Ill Winds A' Blowin'

[XLFD]

The "Lake Winds" farm controversy seems to have recently reached a lull, but opponents of the proposed 56 nearly 500 ft. tall turbines have began blowing in a whole new direction-- to the courts--to have the zoning permits reconsidered and safe setbacks for all.  

Local news outlets published earlier today that the Citizens Alliance for Responsible Renewable Energy (CARRE) who have pushed for more stringent zoning law to reduce the effect that wind turbines would have on nearby houses, have filed suit in 51st Circuit Court and will get their day in court tomorrow.  A press conference held earlier today at the Holiday Inn Express by Consumer's Power officials to brief the media was crashed by a half-dozen local members protesting outside chanting the mantra of "Safe Setbacks".  WZZM had a bit on it as well as a two-sided column by Dave Alexander of the Muskegon Chronicle.

 

Courtesy of WZZM News, Matt Campbell

 

LUDINGTON – Opposition to Consumers Energy's Lake Winds Energy Park in southern Mason County persists as protesters came to a media event Thursday and a law suit begins in court Friday.

Ken Stevens | The Muskegon ChronicleWilliam Parsons of Riverton Township in Mason County protests outside the Holiday Inn Express in Ludington where Consumers Energy was starting a media tour of the new Lake Winds Energy Park construction sites. Parsons was among a half dozen Thursday protesting the company.
But the Jackson-based public utility is proceeding with its $235 million, 56-turbine wind farm in Riverton and Summit townships. Construction is underway on a 100.8-megawatt wind energy installation that is expected to be producing electricity by the end of 2012.

Opponents — many in the project area who have not shared in payments for leases of the turbine sites nor in the broader access easements — are being supported by the nationally-based Citizens Alliance for Responsible Renewable Energy, which has filed suit in Mason County Circuit Court.

“We want safe setbacks,” said William Parsons as he walked with a half dozen other opponents in front of the Ludington Holiday Inn Express Thursday morning. Consumers Energy officials were briefing members of the media on the Lake Winds project at the motel before touring construction sites.

Parsons said he owns an 80-acre Riverton Township farm that has been in his family since 1946. There are wind turbines planned for both sides of his property but he is not receiving any lease or easement payments from Consumers Energy, Parsons said.

“These turbines are just too close to homes,” Parsons said. “This whole thing is a scam for Consumers to get federal subsidies. The taxpayers are going to be paying for it.”

Opponent leader Evelyn Bergaila of Riverton Township said the lawsuit objects to the Mason County Planning Commission's special land use permit for the wind testing towers for the Lake Winds project. The suit also challenges the county's approval of the 56 sites for the turbine towers, she said.

Bergaila said the turbine towers are too close to homes and natural and sour gas lines that cross the project area.

“We are totally dissatisfied with the whole project,” Bergaila said.

However, construction continues as the opposition to Lake Winds moves from the public meeting rooms to the court room. Consumers Energy spokesman Dennis Marvin said the company has legal permits to construct the wind farm and that original decisions by the county planning commission and follow up approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals were unanimous.

Dennis Marvin
“There are no restrictions for us moving forward,” Marvin told The Muskegon Chronicle Thursday during a media tour of the wind farm construction sites. “We followed a legal process. We do not see a judge overturning those political decisions.”

However, the company remains at risk of an adverse court decision during construction or after the wind farm is in operations, Marvin acknowledged.

Bergaila said she is not confident that the legal action will stop the Lake Winds project. However, opponents hope to change the configuration of the wind farm to make it safer from their perspective. The underground gas lines were not addressed satisfactorily, she said.

“County planners didn't even know that the (gas company engineer) had opposition to the project setbacks,” Bergaila said. “At very least, we hope the judge will send the project back to the planning commission to review the distance to the gas lines. Hopefully, we can get a neutral review of the issue.”

Opponents said they have the feeling that despite all of the public meetings and investigation by county officials, the decision to support Consumers Energy was a foregone conclusion.

“They were doggedly-determined to approve this no matter what,” Bergaila said of county policy makers.

Mason County Planning and Zoning Director Mary Reilly said Thursday that there are no more permits that Consumers Energy needs from the county nor the townships to complete the Lake Winds project. She said county officials will continue to monitor progress on the project and make sure that company obligations in the special use permit are met.

As an example, Consumers Energy must install monitoring equipment to log the hours of “light flicker” once the Lake Winds turbines are spinning. Flicker is the shadow cast on homes by the turning windmill blades during sunny days and is one of the objections of wind farm opponents.

As for the underground gas line issue, Reilly said the issue has been addressed by county planning commissioners.

“The county did review the gas lines and there is language in the special use permit addressing that issue,” Reilly said of a point that will be disputed in the law suit. “That's really all I can say on it.”

Meanwhile, Consumers Energy is continuing with its promise to establish a Good Neighbor Fund to provide $2 million to the community when Lake Winds becomes a producing wind farm, according to Marvin, the company's communications manager for new generation. The fund is designed to provide payments to those who are negatively affected by the wind farm but go uncompensated.

The Lansing-based Public Sector Consultants has been hired to facilitate the disbursement of the Good Neighbor Fund, Marvin said. Former Michigan Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, a one-time legislator from Grand Rapids now with Public Sector Consultants, is acting as a neutral facilitator for the fund's advisory panel that includes project opponents, he said.

“They have been meeting monthly since September and we are told they are close to a decision,” Marvin said of the advisory group. “The company has said it will be the citizens of the community who will decide how those funds are spent, not Consumers Energy.” 

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My Perspective:

The safety and health factor, the history of past wind farms, the cost-benefit ratio, the public subsidization, the existence of the Good Neighbor Fund (for hush money or damages?), the history of our county's wind regulations, the strongarm tactics of Consumers, the disingenuous marketing and advertising they used, the use of outside contractors for just about everything, the faux economic development, the aesthetic concerns, etc. have me moving from neutral on some corporation planting a behemoth windmill colony in Mason County, to being against them unless our citizens arrive at some solid agreement that a solid majority can stand behind.  What do you think?

[Robert]

100 Mega watt replaces 320? What do I think? My electric bill will probably exceed my mortgage payment in my life time.

  http://muskegon.wzzm13.com/news/news/64417-consumers-energy-closing...

And what will happen if Michigan's PPT is repealed, wind subsidies vanish? So much for the good of Mason County. Ethanol, solar subsides on the chopping block. 10% renewable energy sounds great on paper but we all know who is going to pay for this boondoggle monthly. 

[XLFD]

Great points Robert.  Governor Snyder would benefit all of us for now by using his re-inventing Michigan efforts into scrapping government impositions of some unreasonable mandate that messes up the energy marketplace.  Alternate energy has, and will have, its time and place, but let's not have more government-business partnerships that are more agenda-driven than market-driven.

[easymoney]

I guess when the citizens of mason co. take on consumers, its akin to playing black jack at a casino, the odds are in favor of the house.

I can take you south on 127 here in ohio towards celina, and as far as the eye can see, wind turbines, what an eye sore. And they are still continueing to put up more of them. With the subsidies from the goverment and selling off the power, they, consumers power, have no money out of pocket. Win, win for the power company

[Heaven Therzke]

bury your head in the sand if you want.  this project will bring energy production to the area, provide jobs, and have minimum impact on the areas tourism.

[Willy]

The energy produced will be sent out of the area. The jobs are temporary and will be filled by out of towners. What tourists will come to see this beautiful country side filled with 500 ft. industrial towers? This entire "green" sham is being subsidized with taxpayers dollars. Why would Consumers shut down a reliable power plant and replace it with unreliable wind generators. Don't you understand what "wind energy" is? Do you know how much energy is produced when the wind stops blowing? We are not the ones with our head in the sand. We can clearly see what is going on. You must dig a little deeper than your local paper to discover the truth.

[Robert]

You go Heaven. Typical smart ass remark from someone that doesn’t have a clue about the topics they choose to comment on. Screw property values, quality of life, view shed, health concerns, the environment, tax dollars, increased energy costs and total disregard by our local governments to consider the how majority feels. Sorry but after an 18 month battle with Duke Energy (victorious for now) I have had my fill of uninformed people, greed and corruption. I have never been a political person, crusader but this wind deal has been an eye opener.  If you don’t care about what you see when you look out the window then the sand is a perfect place for you.

[XLFD]

It was Henry David Thoreau, the 19th century naturalist who said:  "Heaven is under our feet, as well as over our heads."

And with her unqualified statements, she is definitely over our heads, but as far as I know, she's not in our basements.

[Guidothesemipsuedocaptitalistpig]

PA is going through this battle of the most job producing energy. There are many solar, wind, and natural gas projects here.

     The wind turbine jobs come as they are built then go quikly to another location once the hings are online. The power produced by these are expensive. About 2-3 times as much as the market rate here per Kw. The wind turbines in thse area are placed along Freeway right of ways and such and dont seem to be placed near PA many state parks.

      The gas industry is under assult, as the production rules keep changeing based on claims of possible water contamination and such. I worked this summer hauling water for fracking operations. Great pay and benifits for the area.  As near as I can research. The only well that seems to be truly contaminated was done years before the marsallis shale frack operations began. They have had a few industrial type accidents, far fewer than the coal industry over the same periods of time but the enviro-mentalcases seem content on blowing these out of any realm of reality or proportion.

    Heavenly sounds like many liberal folks in this area, who are all to happy to through a monkey wrench into a gas project While looking the other way, when folks have legitimate complaints tword a pet project they may support. I occasionaly see a no frack sign by the road mostly near liberal arts schools... You seldome see them up in the areas where people are actually making a liveing off those rigs. Once the wells are cleaned up here the result is a wellhead with a set of safty valves and usually two gas capture tanks, taking up less than an acre of real estate.

      What we do see alot of on the freeways here are the 50 plus FT wind blades which are not produces in this country for the most part. On there way to various states to be built, (again) by engineers very seldom from the USA.

[AQUAMAN]

The White Construction Co., general contractor, is from Indiana. These apparatus's are also being built out of state and trucked in next May or June. The locals being hired thus far are from GR, Muskegon, and Lansing, not Ludington. When completed, the maintenance teams will also be out of state people. So, what's the advantage to locals, again and again we see these proofs to make our case. Yet Consumers Energy's spokesman continue to lie and get their way. Perhaps a reasonable judge will see the setbacks and flicker issues strong enough to move some elsewhere, or get relief for homeowners in financial ways, but, I doubt it. Too much money and clout by this huge monopolistic utility here yet.

[Willy]

I hope we don't see these situations here in Mason county.

[Willy]

After a closer examination it looks like the center photo might be a phony.

[XLFD]

I think you may be right, Willy, because of the orientation and the differences in color and type of that turbine with the other turbines in the background.  But then you would probably say this photo of Obama 'planking' was a phony as well.