Wind farms making way to reality

A last-minute rescue of a federal tax credit for renewable energy last week was welcomed by the companies behind two proposed wind-turbine projects in the area. However, it will likely be years before anyone around here sees any giant windmills going in the ground.

A U.S. production tax credit, extended as part of the fiscal-cliff deal passed by Congress and signed by the president, provides a rebate of 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour over a wind farm’s first 10 years of operation. That rebate can knock up to 30 percent off the cost of such a project.

But two wind farms in the works in north central Ohio still have numerous hurdles to clear before they can take advantage of the tax giveaway.

The Black Fork Wind Farm, a 91-turbine project west of Shelby that was given the go-ahead by the state a year ago, is slowly working its way through the appeals process in the Ohio Supreme Court — a number of area residents are seeking to halt the project on legal grounds.

Meanwhile, another wind farm proposed for northeastern Morrow County is still awaiting approval by the Ohio Power Siting Board before it can proceed.

“We are still actively developing the project. We were meeting with Richland and Crawford counties back in November and December and are working through the road-use issues,” said Scott Hawken, senior project manager with Element Power, an Oregon-based alternative energy company that’s handling the Black Fork project.

That wind farm is to be built over 24,200 acres in Crawford County’s Auburn, Jackson, Jefferson and Vernon townships and Richland County’s Plymouth, Sandusky and Sharon townships, with the cooperation of 150 landowners. It would be located west of Shelby, north of Crestline and nearly surround the village of Tiro. Ohio 598 would bisect the entire site from north to south.

“Sooner or later these things will have to come down, because everything eventually becomes obsolete,” Patrick Murphy, a Bucyrus attorney representing the appellants, said. “If this company goes bankrupt, who’s going to pay for that? It’s going to cost $30,000 to take one of these things down.”

Hawken, who noted local communities would split an estimated $1.8 million in tax revenues, said the Black Fork project would have a life span of 20 to 25 years.

“I would anticipate in 20 years that these projects get upgraded with newer technology,” he said. “This is a good location to gather wind for years and years to come.”

“ I believe in green energy, but we have other alternatives other than wind. We have a 110-year supply of natural gas under our feet, more energy than Saudi Arabia ever had, and it’s clean,” Murphy said.

“These farmers don’t want to be surrounded by 50-story structures. It doesn’t make any sense at all to do this.”

Opponents of wind turbines have also cited their danger to birds, noise level and aesthetic concerns. Studies into shadow flicker, caused by rapidly rotating blades, have not uncovered any significant health threat, although the flicker’s strobing effect has been shown to spook horses, disorient livestock and cause headaches in people.

“We don’t think the siting board gave us an opportunity to present our side and that it went beyond the scope of its authority,” Murphy said.

Although the Black Fork project has yet to secure a long-term agreement to purchase power from local utilities, “because of Ohio’s alternative energy portfolio standard, we are well-positioned to proceed with this project, with or without the tax incentive,” Hawken said.