LANSING – Michigan will now have two bodies looking at optimal siting for wind energy in the state. Governor Jennifer Granholm created and appointed Friday the Great Lakes Wind Council specifically to look at offshore locations for wind turbines.
The new council, created under Executive Order 2009-1, has until September 1 to come up with recommendations on statutory and regulatory changes needed to allow offshore wind power, how to compensate the state for use of bottomlands, how to involve the public in the siting process, as well as whether the state should support a federal environmental impact statement for the turbines within the Great Lakes Basin.
The council has also been asked to look at experiences in other areas to predict issues the state will have to address in installing the turbines.
The Wind Energy Resource Zone Board, created the Public Service Commission, has already begun its work on developing criteria for placing wind turbines in the state, but officials said its work is concentrated on land-based turbines.
The members of the council appointed Friday:
? Adesoji Adelaja of Okemos, director of the Michigan State University Land Policy Institute, to represent other residents of this state;
? James Clift of Lansing, policy director of the Michigan Environmental Council, to represent statewide environmental organizations;
? Frank Ettawageshik of Harbor Springs, chair of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, to represent Native American tribal governments;
? Dennis Grinold of Lansing, member of the Michigan Charter Boat Association, to represent the charter fishing industry;
? Curtis Hertel Sr. of Grosse Pointe Woods, executive director of the Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority, to represent the commercial shipping industry;
? Thomas Hickner of Bay City, Bay County executive, to represent local government officials;
? Jack Knowles III of Ann Arbor, vice president of Dietrich, Bailey and Associates, P.C., to represent other residents of this state;
? Steven Kurmas of Shelby Township, chief operating officer of Detroit Edison to represent electric utilities;
? Marty Lagina of Traverse City, chief executive officer of Heritage Sustainable Energy LLC, to represent the wind energy development industry;
? James MacInnes of Beulah, chief executive officer of Crystal Mountain Resort and Spa, to represent the tourism industry;
? John Russell of East Lansing, president of Consumers Energy, to represent electric utilities;
? Richard Vander Veen III of Lowell, president of Mackinaw Power, to represent other residents of this state; and
? Joseph Welch of Monroe, president of ITC Holdings Corporation, to represent independent electric transmission companies.
The commission also includes the directors of the departments of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth; Environmental Quality; Natural Resources; Transportation; and History, Arts and Libraries; the president of the Strategic Fund; the chair of the Public Service Commission; and the director of the Office of the Great Lakes.
The appointments are not subject to Senate consent, but they all expire September 1. Among the council’s recommendations is to be whether it should continue on after its first report.
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