To get a sense of the level of interest and the types of concerns that people in the area have in regard to wind power, we held a public meeting on the "Future of Windpower in the Western U.P."   It took place on April 14, 2005, at 7:00 p.m.  Approximately thirty people attended.

At the meeting, we first provided some basics about wind power.  Then, we presented three scenarios involving different patterns of wind power development.  

• Residential wind turbines
• Small commercial clusters
• Large offshore windfarms

To see the type of background information that was presented and to introduce the scenarios, download the powerpoints slides used during the presentation.

After each scenario, we asked for questions and comments concerning that scenario.  The following is a summary of comments and questions made during the discussion.

In the scenario, the assumption was that residential turbines have become relatively inexpensive and easy to maintain while electricity prices have risen.  The questions and comments in response to this scenario were as follows:

Question.   Does the federal government offer tax credits to residential users?

•  Reply from class: No

Question.   What is the fall-off in wind velocity as one descends from 70m height to 30m?

•  Reply from class: depends on the terrain

•  Comment from audience.  To really find out, one would have to put up their own wind measuring device at the site and height they are considering.

Question. Is there anyone in the Western U.P. who will assess your site for wind potential?

•  Reply from class and audience:   It’s not very difficult and you can purchase your own anemometer, or by joining a weather program you can have one donated to you.

Question. Is there a group or any resource that will tell you which type, or which company to buy a wind turbine from

•  Reply from class and audience: Power Magazine, or the American Wind Energy Association might be able to help.

Question. Does Michigan allow residential wind users to sell back power?

•  Reply from class and audience:   Yes, net metering allows you to sell back power and it has just recently been passed in MI

Question. We currently have to pay a $7 per month just to be connected, with net metering would we still have to pay the connection fee?

•  Reply from power company representatives:   Currently we have until April 28 th to develop the instructions for this, until then we don’t know what the details or the costs of net metering will be.

 Question. If you had enough money to buy a significantly large turbine, could you sell energy to other people?

•  Reply from the power company representatives and audience:   Retail sales of energy is regulated by the energy commission, and you would have to go through the paperwork and red-tape to become an energy supplier.

Question: Any concern about the aesthetics?

•  Reply from audience:   There are cell-towers everywhere.

Question.  What are the concerns regarding safety

•  Reply from class and audience:   Your set-up should be inspected by an engineer, and it should be set-up in such a way that if your turbine tower fell, it would fall only on your property.   Making you and your family the only people at risk.

Question. Is there a lightning problem?

•  Reply from class:   System designs account for lightning protection; a professional installer of residential wind turbines would use the the appropriate devices.

For this scenario, the assumption is that Michigan has passed a renewable energy portfolio.  As a result, wind energy entrepreneurs have located small turbine clusters (2-5) on six sites throughout the area.  The individual turbines are assumed to be mid-sized, about 500 KW to 1 MW.  Projects such as these are often implemented in cooperation with schools, hospitals, universities, and other large consumers of electricity.  The six sites displayed were: Trimountain, the Breakers, the old Air Force Base, Ontonagon/Porkies, Quincy Hill, near Eagle Harbor.  Comments and questions with regard to this scenario were:

Comment. My only objection would be if they were present at Breakers or the Pokies, I as a camper/hiker would not want to see big pieces of machinery rather than nature.

Comment. Are most of these areas available?

•  Reply from class:   Most of these areas have come up in conversation as potential sites, while others were put up just to get a response from the audience.

Comment.  There is also the issue of putting up a tower greater than 100ft within vicinity to the airport.

•  Reply from class and audience:   We believe that you are not allowed to put up a tower within a 5mi radius of the airport, and all of these potential sites are beyond that distance.

Comment. Did you consider anywhere in Chassel, which has more cleared farmland than most places in the area?

•  Reply from class:   As a class we haven’t.

Comment. Does the Ontonagon/Porkies site have to be on top of a mountain or can it be anywhere along the lake-shore?

•  Reply from class:   Anywhere with good wind-potential, it doesn’t necessarily have to be on top of a mountain.

• Reply from audience: The Porkies is a state wilderness area, so it is doubtful that any turbines could  be sited within the park.  Also, the area right around Quincy Mine is a National Park; given the stir caused by the visual effect of Hancock's new water tower, a wind turbine would probably be problematic.

Comment. With regard to the Quincy Mine site, there are already cell-phone towers there, I don’t see why putting up a wind-mill would be such a big deal.

Comment. All of these cell towers we are talking about, I’ve picked up dead birds beneath them.   Considering the peninsula is a major migration corridor for land birds and also raptors, I’m wondering how would you go about evaluating the impact that putting up wind turbines will have on local bird populations?

•  Reply from class and audience:   It is an issue that should be thoroughly investigated.   There have been suggestions of limiting turbine use during migration periods, or using a visual or audio signal to warn birds.  

•  Reply from question giver: Migration occurs almost 7 months out of the year.   However even communication towers, that don’t move, are killing birds.   It’s unsure whether or not mortality is caused by the guy-wires or lack of visibility on dark nights.   Monitoring would help find a solution

Comment. I’m wondering if these turbines would require a lighting system, and what would that be like?

•  Reply from class:   A lighting system for this scale would be required, but we’ve heard a variety of different answers as to what the proper lighting should be; red lights, white lights, fast blinking, slow blinking, we’re not sure.

Comment. What will be the effects of the U.P.’s environment have on the mechanics of the turbine?

•  Reply from class and audience:   That would be something that would be addressed with a demonstration project such as the one in Alberta.  

•  Discussion of Michigan Tech Alberta Project

Comment. Just for comparison in terms of cost efficiency, would it be better for each house to have its own small turbine, or to have 10 houses share a large turbine?

•  Reply from class:   Cost of residential scale is about $0.10 per kw, while the cost of a commercial scale is about $0.04.   Using commercial scale turbines generally is more cost effective but would require more negotiation and organization than a residential turbine.

In this scenario, the assumption is that a company has decided to take advantage of the excellent offshore wind power resources by constructing a large wind farm consisting of the largerst turbines possible.  In the western U.P., such a wind farm would be highly unlikely on land due to the terrain and extensive wooded area.  Comments and questions with regard to this scenario were:

Question.  Why aren’t we considering putting an offshore windfarm down state, along Lake Michigan’s shoreline, where there exists a higher population, rather then up here in this tourist area?

•  Response from class: Because here is where we are, but there is definitely a lot of potential downstate for such a project.

Question. Where are the wires?   How are they connected and get to the grid?

•  Submerged wiring is usually laid along the floor of the water body.

Question. Do they have lights on them

•  Yes, for naval and aeronautical safety reasons

Comment. I think it’s less appealing then seeing them on land, at least aesthetically.

Question.  Who would grant them the right to use that area?   Who owns it?

•  Response from class and audience:   The state of Michigan most likely.   The Army Corps of Engineers would probaby be involved as well.

Comment.  Just for example, if you’re at Isle Royal on a clear day you can see the cell phone tower on the Keeweenah.

Comment.  How much of the local area would those turbines power.

•  Response from class and audience:   With the capacity factor, they would cover a relatively good sized chuck of the Keeweenah’s demand; roughly estimated about 10%.

Comment.  What are the biological effects to the aquatic life?

•  Response from class:   There has yet to be any study out that has found any significant effect to aquatic species, however an environmental impact analysis would have to be done prior to construction.

Comment.  In previous surveys, visuals and viewscapes have been ranked as highly important aspects for the residence of this area.   I would be vary curious to find out how they would feel about each of the scenarios.

Comment.   Maybe you should also consider in your scenarios how many of each would be needed to support the demand made by inhabitants of the U.P.

Comment from power comany representative.  I should mention here the problems of receiving all of your energy from wind turbines: what do you do when the wind isn’t blowing?   If everybody had their own wind generator, you are still going to need at some points energy from a fossil based energy generator, and due to fixed costs you’re going to have to pay a lot more for it.   I think the smartest person to use wind power was a guy who used his wind turbine to heat water.   It was a very inexpensive system, which provided an excellent utility.   Now an alternative like that might be worth pursuing.

•  Reply from audience and class: For stability reasons no one really is considering a grid fully based on wind energy.  

•  Reply from audience. Up here wind and photovoltaics compensate for each other very nicely.   In the summer when the wind speeds are low, we get a fair amount of sun, and in the winter there’s not much sun, but quite a bit of wind.

•  Reply from audience: My reason for considering this is the liability.   I like to feel a little self-sufficient.   I’ve had problems of being without electricity for long periods of time.   I guess I just don’t want to put my future into someone else’s hands. I don’t trust the existing infrastructure.

Comment. Could you combine cell-phone towers and wind-turbines?

•  Reply from audience:   There may be too much interference caused by the electrical field generated by the wind turbine, to put the two of them together.

Question.  Wouldn’t be better to begin wind projects now, rather then waiting for fossil fuels to run out?

•  Reply from power company representative:   The company is a power purchaser, we will buy energy from anyone who wants to sell it to us.   Once the prices come down and become more competitive, then the potential increases.   The company does provide a program for its customers to buy renewable energy, but we still need to do what is most economical.

Question.  What does it do when you buy renewable energy from a utility?   Does it change the nature of the energy being provided?

•  Reply from power company representative:   We actually buy how ever much renewable energy our customers desire.   So it does change the source of energy provided.

Question.  How much pollution is embedded in the production of wind turbines?

•  Reply from class:   As far as the life-cycle goes, the pollution is much less then producing any other form of energy generation.