On October 6 2008 Governor Granholm signed into law a bipartisan law mandating that 10% of Michigan's power come from renewable sources by 2015.
The three-bill package signed by Granholm at two different events today includes a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that mandates 10 percent of the state's energy come from renewable sources by 2015
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That's a tall order. That's almost 3000 MW of power, produced through alternative resources in the space of 7 years.
So how are we doing?
Our Rust Belt competitors added between 54 MW (Wisconsin) and 905 MW (Indiana) of wind power. Michigan added a whopping 14.
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For 2009 we've added 14 MW.
FOURTEEN.
The good news is, we have lots more coming by 2012. Wind power is by far the more mature market for renewable energy resources, other than hydro power, which is fairly limited.
Over the next couple of years we're going to be seeing wind farms popping up all over the state as Consumer's Power works in a mad dash to meet State laws for alternative energy.
But to meet those goals, we're going to have to start taking seriously the concept of putting wind power in the Great Lakes. Especially if the Federal government increases the requirements for alternative energy.
Now...you may or may not know that there's some big flap over a wind farm being explored for off the coast of Oceana and Mason counties. A 1000 MW wind farm.
There are many folks opposed to it, and many folks, including me, who want the company to at least have the opportunity to do its environmental and economic impact studies.
Even if they get a lease, they won't be able to even consider starting construction for over three years, until after three years of extensive environmental and economic impact studies...
...and then they'll have to jump through a series of bureaucratic hoops, getting the approval of the State, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Coast Guard...pushing the construction off even further.
In reality, the earliest large scale Great Lakes wind construction is at least five to ten years off.
Even if we allow this company to do its three years of study, ground won't break for nearly half a decade. Probably longer.
But whether one agrees with the company's proposal or not...
...one thing is for certain...
We're definitely going to have to have offshore wind farms in Michigan. That's why the Great Lakes Wind Council is drafting legislation as we speak for processes and regulations for offshore wind...the legislation will be passed into law years before anybody, even Scandia/Havgul, even starts to think about construction. Again...it's half a decade away.
The shift to alternative energy in the United States has begun.
Last October, according to the Energy Information Agency, renewables generated more American energy than nukes.
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It's been happening for years. States like Iowa and Minnesota and Texas have been putting up wind power consistently for years, more and more. They're reaching targets. Putting the wind farms where the wind blows, because that's where the clean, renewable power is.
Meanwhile, Michigan lags behind.
A view of where the wind farms are shows that somehow we've managed to miss the boat.
One problem is that wind doesn't blow on the land here as much as places like Iowa and Texas. Our wind is in the lakes. That's where our vast open spaces are.
My wife is from Iowa. She loves the vast, open spaces, the huge sky, unobstructed by trees. Huge fields of corn and soy. The folks in Iowa love their sky as much as we love our view over the lake. And yet, farmers in the field have taken in, even welcomed the arrival of wind power.
In Michigan, we need to start doing the same. We can't keep burning coal like we have been, and we don't have the wind on the land like Iowa and Texas.
We're going to be getting lake based wind power, and we're going to see the turbines off on the horizon in some places. It's something we're going to have to come to terms with as a State. We can still dominate this emerging industry, selling power and generating jobs. But we need to want it or, once again, lag behind. |
