Michigan

Several U.S. coastal states are in a heated race to build America's first offshore wind farm. Is landlocked Michigan throwing its hat in the ring, too?

The Michigan Great Lakes Wind Council is recommending a change in state law that would permit placement of wind turbines six miles or more off its freshwater shores.

The proposal is just a first step. But if regulatory hurdles are swiftly resolved, it may help Michigan become the first state to generate power from the heart of its wind-blessed Great Lakes. 

The council, an advisory body within the state Department of Energy, was established by Governor Jennifer Granholm through executive order in February 2009. Its charge was to look at the possibility of putting turbines in the lakes and identify ways to get them "prudently sited." In Governor Granholm's words:

"The availability, consistency, and velocity of wind in the Great Lakes make their waters uniquely attractive to wind energy developers seeking to build offshore wind energy systems - but we want to make sure we are prudent in this process of approval."

A full report from the council is due to the governor by September 1, 2009. Its leaked recommendations so far suggest a need for urgent action.

Inaction is action when it comes to climate change.

EPA administrator Lisa Jackson drove that point home yesterday when she announced she would review a Bush-era memo stating that carbon dioxide is not a "regulated pollutant" under the Clean Air Act.

Within hours, Jackson’s “hold on, let’s think about this” announcement was reverberating through the energy industry.

AES Corporation, one of the world’s largest power companies with almost $14 billion in revenues in 2007, announced it would withdraw an application to build a new coal-fired power plant in Oklahoma. The company, which would not comment beyond its three-sentence announcement because it is in a quiet period before announcing quarterly earnings, said the decision to withdraw plans for the 600MW plant was “part of our broader strategy to re-evaluate our growth plans.”

The EPA review effectively put a moratorium on all coal-fired plant projects, says David Bookbinder, Chief Climate Counsel for the Sierra Club, which asked the EPA to reconsider the Dec. 18, 2008, memo from ex-agency Administrator Stephen Johnson.

Proposed coal plants on federal land, such as the Bonanza Plant in Utah and the White Pine and Tuquop plants in Nevada, are already on hold. In Florida, a Seminole Electric plant in Palatka under litigation could have its permit revoked if the EPA decides to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

For a sneak peek at where a U.S. energy revolution could be going, keep an eye on Michigan. That's right, rust-belt Michigan. In the same financially struggling state where the Big Three automakers are kings, Gov. Jennifer Granholm is nurturing a microcosm of the green economic development President Obama envisions for the nation.

Granholm, an Obama advisor, described her clean energy vision for Michigan’s immediate future in her State of the State Address last night.

If she succeeds, she could turn chilly Michigan into one of the most energy efficient and renewable energy-reliant states in the nation. In the process, her plan could create tens of thousands of jobs, expand the tax base and begin to resurrect Detroit. Her target is this:

By the year 2020, Michigan will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for generating electricity by 45 percent. We will do it through increased renewable energy, gains in energy efficiency and other new technologies. Instead of spending nearly $2 billion a year importing coal or natural gas from other states, we’ll be spending our energy dollars on Michigan wind turbines, Michigan solar panels, Michigan energy-efficiency devices, all designed, manufactured and installed by Michigan workers.

The state’s aggressive tax incentives for renewable energy production have already started drawing wind and solar enterprises to Michigan. The next step in Granholm's plan is to ignite a powerful new market for those Michigan-made products.

The state could do that, she said, by: