Lake Michigan living at its best

State your views on the proposed wind turbine project.

Can't make the wind turbine meeting at the college? State your message here, particulatly good comments may be picked for editorial use by the Ludington Daily News.

Tags: farm, lake, michigan, turbine, wind

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Permalink Reply by Scott Wiese on December 14, 2009 at 6:02pm: While I generally promote alternative forms of energy, placing this in front of the most pristine and beautiful areas of Michigan's west coast would be a travesty. There are dozens of other locations that are suitable for this type of project with less exposure to the state's inhabitants. Watching the sun set just north of Pentwater, as I have been doing most of my adult life, is the highlight of each day. Seeing a mass of giant structures across the horizon from Ludington to Silver Lake - 12 turbines deep - would be devastating, not to mention what it would do to my property's value. I'm pretty sick over this proposal...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Chuck Cloutier on December 15, 2009 at 8:42am: I am also opposed to this idea. It is bad news for Oceana and Mason counties and will permanently damage tourism to this area. Pentwater Harbor will be used to service these massive machines.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bob Cocker on December 15, 2009 at 2:44pm: We bought a home on Lake Michigan for three primary reasons. The beach, the view of the lake and the wonderful village of Pentwater. If this project goes through the view will be destroyed. I am afraid that Pentwater will suffer greatly in the long term through the loss of tourism dollars. We will still have the beach but our property value will most likely drop off the cliff.

There may well be some short term gains for the area due to the short term construction phase, but once construction is over most of the gains will disappear since it certainly won't require very many people to maintain this monstrosity. Also, long term, Oceana and Mason counties need to understand the impact of this on their tax revenues. Property values will decline reducing the tax income they receive and the tourism and related businesses will most certainly suffer which will further reduce tax revenues.

The wind farms I have seen on land must certainly be viewed differently (pun intended) than a wind farm in a lake such as Lake Michigan. I am fairly certain that most people who own land near the land based farms did not buy that land for the view since most of the land around these are either farms or ranches. We did buy our property for the view, and this project will destroy that view.

Finally, I find it very interesting that this informational meeting is being held in the middle of December, when many of the property owners in the area are not available because they either live elsewhere or they have headed towards warmer weather. Seems like they are trying to avoid many of the people who just might have the strongest objection to this project.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Scott Wiese on December 15, 2009 at 4:27pm: For what it's worth, I have submitted an "iReport" to CNN with all of the details, plus links to Ludington Daily News as well as Scandia (http://scandiawind.com/maps_Aegir.html). Why the heck not, right?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff Hoenle on December 15, 2009 at 6:23pm: In addition to all of the well thought out comments and concerns already voiced on this page, I think it might worth noting that it could easily be assumed that the developers of this project have chosen our area part in the belief that the resistance will be cheap to combat. In other areas on the lake such as Traverse City or Grand Haven, resistance from beach front owners will muster some serious lobbying dollars making the venture far more costly to develop. I believe that all of us that our concerned need to unite to form a consolidated strategy to approach this proposal. I am a player for joining such a venture. Does anyone have any thoughts?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Esther Karp on December 19, 2009 at 4:34pm: Hi Jeff, I'm new to this forum and joined just to let you know I would be interested in joining up with you and others to fight this proposal.
I've been chatting it up at Ludington Talks and I'm not here to spam you guys. I just want you to know I would be interested in adding my voice, body and pocket book to stopping this project.
I love watching the sail boats out of Pentwater and it would break my heart to have this wind farm kill your beautiful little town.
Just let me know what I can do.
Esther Karp ekarp3@yahoo.com; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dave Shannon on December 15, 2009 at 6:26pm: I have had the amazing life long privilege of being able to visit and now co-own a Lake Michigan, lake front cottage just north of Pentwater. Over the year, I have collected spectacular sunset photographs which include me as a child, my children, and now my own grandchildren. Something that I never quite get over is the absolute beauty and peace which is afforded me each and every time I visit.
I’m sure that all of us who are familiar with the splendor of this bit of paradise have had similar experiences, not only in enjoying the sunsets but in our inability to express the essence of what is there to those who have never experienced it. Following is a short story of one encounter I had with a gentleman I met on the beach on one such occasion.
I was standing in awe of one particularly dramatic sunset when I struck up a conversation with a man standing nearby. We shared our impressions of the colors of the clouds as the sun shot up from under them and he mentioned that he was from the middle-east (I cannot remember where just now). He then said something that I will never forget, “I have traveled the world over, and this is by far the most beautiful beach I have ever seen.”
I am all for alternative energy sources. My question is, what would this gentleman’s impression been if he had to look at the sunset through wind turbines. We cannot allow any corporation or politician to destroy the most beautiful beach in the world! There most certainly are other options (why not out in the lake where it would not be visible from the shore?); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Scott Wiese on December 16, 2009 at 7:33pm: I posted this on another thread here, but just in case you didn't catch it, you must check out the renderings of the views with these monsters installed. I can just imagine the boaters' nightmares - or worse - a barge smacks into one of these things in a storm...
http://ludingtondailynews/multimedia .; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Scott Wiese on December 16, 2009 at 7:38pm: Correction:
http://ludingtondailynews.com/multimedia; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Scott Wiese on December 16, 2009 at 7:38pm: Correction:
http://ludingtondailynews.com/multimedia; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Esther Karp on December 22, 2009 at 6:11pm: Hey Shoreline Media,
The Scandia developers said there would be another public meeting this time in Shelby. Got any details on it? We want to make a good showing, right???; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff Hoenle on December 23, 2009 at 12:19am: Wind farms aren’t bad; they just need to be properly regulated!

This is my third posting on this project. My first two were in direct opposition to the wind farm, but after a more careful analysis, I realized I made an error in my comments. I am a financial planner by trade and I am always looking at an enterprise for its profit potential. In an effort to be more knowledgeable in this arena I began to do research about wind farms. With all due respects to the scientists and engineers, I have formulated the following “amateur” opinion.

When I first started my research I stumbled across an independently prepared report drafted in 2004 and modified in 2008 for the Governor's office regarding the feasibility of wind farming in Michigan. That report linked me to other reports similar in nature. After studying the information, I agree with the conclusion that this is a really good place to have a wind farm, and perhaps, the best darn place ever to have a wind farm.

I also studied the potential construction of the towers and their mountings to the lake bed. In my findings, I discovered that the cheapest method of underwater mounting is a single pole mount that is effective in 30 meters of water or less. This is ideal for our near beach environment. Additionally, there is proven technology that has been already implemented elsewhere, that uses a more sophisticated mount that allows for installation in waters up to 60 meters. The cost is almost double for an installation of this type.

As a side note, all of the aforementioned technology appears to have been effective in ocean and saltwater environments. From my findings, none of this technology has been thoroughly tested in the ice packed and sandy bottom waters of eastern Lake Michigan.

In my opinion, as a bit of tree hugger, wind power is great and should be developed everywhere including in front of our shorelines. The argument of "not-in-my-backyard" is selfish. I think that rather than fighting the whole project to get it permanently stopped, we should consider a more popular approach. The approach I am leaning towards is adjusting the regulation as to the placement of offshore wind farms.

Right now the proposal is to build the wind farm for the cheapest possible cost. The developers are business people and that is their job. They won't want to go out further into the lake if they can avoid it because that would cost more and it might take them twice as much time to recover their costs and turn a profit. Unfortunately, as all business has done for years, they are simply making themselves more profitable at the expense of others, namely the local economy.

Our argument should be that we agree with the development of wind farms in front of Oceana and Mason Counties, but developed to be symbiotic with the local economy and not counterproductive. If I am not mistaken, the development of wind power is to eventually aid in permanently making the US energy independent without creating a larger environmental footprint. In that notion, profit is not, and should not, be the primary driving force.

If the wind farm were to be placed out at the 15 mile mark several benefits are derived for everyone except maybe the investors of the power company. First, according to most studies I read, the wind is actually more consistent further out in the lake as we have all witnessed first handed. Second, at that distance, the local fisherman, pleasure boaters and sailors will by and large, not be impacted as they will still have freedom to navigate in the waters they are accustomed to. Third, at that distance, the sound will be virtually impossible to hear in any wind environment. Fourth, the windmills will be in less danger of being damaged by packed ice during the winter months. Finally, with the windmills placed out 15 miles, at beach elevation, the towers should be virtually invisible thanks to the curvature of the earth, thus preserving the local economy and beauty of the Great Lakes.

We should strive in our effort to help drive the standards for which this and all other wind farms are to be developed. If the developers complain that the technology is too expensive today then they should do one of two things; they should either reconsider the project and the timetable for which it will become profitable, or postpone the project for a few years until the technology is more developed and some of the R&D costs have been burned off.

Let’s work together with our county officials and our elected representatives in both Lansing and Washington to develop these standards to preserve everyone's rights, and not shift expenses from one group to another. If successful, we can help forge the proper development of wind farms in all of the Great Lakes!; ▶ Reply to This