MANISTEE ? Manistee County will work closely with the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association to figure out ways to develop wind-power generation plants ? a prototype project that could provide other Michigan counties with a roadmap for alternative energy development.
GLREA will work with Manistee County officials, starting in January, to develop a community-based wind energy plan to help the county make decisions regarding future wind energy development. In addition, the project will serve to educate county residents and decision makers about common misconceptions regarding the feasibility and operations of wind power. Project partners include Manistee County, the State of Michigan Energy Office, the Michigan Renewable Energy Program and the Michigan Wind Working Group.
Final products from this project will include a county wind energy plan, a report on how to address barriers to wind development in the county, briefings for local government staff and officials, public wind town meetings and a manual that other counties can use to develop their own wind energy plans.
?We have been working on this for almost a year and we are proud to
announce that Manistee County and the GLREA have teamed up to win this
very innovative grant to not only study wind energy in Manistee but to
write a model ordinance for all counties in Michigan to use as a guide
and benchmark to address the many issues associated with the siting and
application of large and small wind systems in counties,? said Allan O’Shea Chairperson of the Manistee County Commission and Michigan Energy Fair Board Coordinator.
?We will be kicking off this project in early January and we hope that
you and your community will be able to gain valuable information for
the future. if you would like to learn more or be involved please
contact me or the GLREA for further updates.?
Manistee County has been heavily involved in alternative energy projects. In June, Manistee held Michigan?s first statewide Renewable Energy Fair. It attracted 35 speakers, more than 70 attendees and 3,000 guests. Up for discussion were BioDiesel, Ethanol, Solar and Wind energy.
In August, the County Commission granted a special use permit to build a 50-million gallon Ethanol plant on the abandoned Manistee Drop Forge property, the first Ethanol facility to be built in Northern Michigan.
The project was proposed by North Star Ethanol LLC in a state Renaissance Zone in Filer Township. The forge has now been torn down and work is moving forward on the ethanol plant that could open by late 2007 or early 2008. Some 30-50 jobs will be created.
O?Shea said the proposed site for the Ethanol plant adjoins the TES Filer Power Plant that burns waste material and coal, which means the proposed Ethanol plant would not have to build its own power plant.
?It provides great synergy for this project,? he said.
