“Lake Erie is the
Saudi Arabia of wind …
represent[ing]
20 percent
of the United States’
total offshore wind
energy capacity.”
(Congresswoman
Marcy Kaptur,
on May 18, 2016)
On May 21, 2020,
the Ohio Power
Siting Board
(OPSB)
unanimously
granted a certificate
of approval to
LEEDCo / Icebreaker,
a 6-turbine, 20.7 MW
(3.45 MW per turbine)
“demonstration project"
in Lake erie, eight miles
offshore of Cleveland, Ohio.
The project received
a $40 million Department
of Energy grant in 2016,
and is expecting a
federal Production
Tax Credit too.
Construction and
completion is
proposed for 2022.
With Lake Erie called
“the Saudi Arabia of wind,”
as many as
one thousand
turbines have been
mentioned for
construction
in that Great Lake.
But ... one of the most
carefully crafted OPSB
stipulations requires
the developer to curtail
turbine use at “night”
for eight months
of the year.
The developer calls
that a financial
“poison pill.”
The Sierra Club
is extremely
disappointed
because
the condition
imposed by
the OPSB
means the project
may not be able
to move forward.
They don't care that
wind turbines in Lake Erie
would become bird
slaughtering machines.
Three major environmental
groups in Ohio — the Ohio
Environmental Council,
the Sierra Club and the
Environmental Defense Fund
— all support the project.
Fighting against
the wind farm
construction are the
Lake Erie Foundation Cleveland,
Save Our Beautiful Lake,
Great Lakes Wind Truth,
No Lake Erie Wind Farm,
American Bird Conservancy,
Black Swamp Bird Observatory,
Delta Waterfowl, and the
Hawk Migration Association
of North America.
I'm against the bird shredders~
Leave the birds alone.
Shred the "environmentalists" !