I grew up in Toledo Ohio, and one thing I know for sure is that its windy. Oppressively hot and windy in the summer, brutally cold and windy in the winter and idyllic (and windy) in the spring and fall. It seems that some local people are gearing up to harness some of that wind power. Last time I was home I took some pictures of the wind turbines just outside of Bowling Green (where I went to school). Its nice to see the new state government continue to head towards a more renewable future.

Three more signs of northwest Ohio’s budding interest in wind power emerged yesterday.

They were:

•Bowling Green’s utilities director saying that his city is contemplating more commercial-sized wind turbines.

•Fulton County commissioners saying that they might want to explore their county’s potential as a host site.

•Gov. Ted Strickland saying that he was following through with an incentive program for wind power production and manufacturing.

The program stems from a bill passed by the General Assembly in late 2006 and signed into law by former Gov. Bob Taft during the waning hours of his administration.

Mr. Strickland initially will fund the program at $5 million, with money coming from a temporary surcharge on electricity rates.

Would-be recipients have until the law’s April 16 effective date to submit letters of intent.
All of yesterday’s activity came as the region is waiting to hear whether East Toledo will be selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to be America’s first laboratory for testing offshore wind turbine blades.

A site proposed by a contingent of northern Ohio academic, business, and government officials is one of six nationally in the running for the $11.5 million project, which is expected to create dozens of spinoff jobs by attracting manufacturers and parts suppliers.

Keith Dailey, Mr. Strickland’s spokesman, said the governor’s enactment of the incentive-laden program should provide “added confidence” about East Toledo’s bid, although he did not tie it directly to that project.

He said the governor wants “to indicate to a wide audience there’s a renewed seriousness in Ohio around investing in alternative energy as a job-creation tool.”

Bowling Green made Ohio history in the fall of 2003 when its first pair of commercial-sized wind turbines at the Wood County landfill went online. The site, southwest of the city along U.S. 6, was the state’s first to have such devices.

Today, there are four. Each produces about 1.8 megawatts of power. Collectively, that’s enough for a small village.(via)

As I grew up in Toledo I got the feeling that the city was nice, and the citizens good people, but never felt taht we were the “cutting edge” of anything. It is amazing that we are pushing the limits in good old T-Town and northwest Ohio. The jobs that will be created by this program are also very much needed in Northwest Ohio.

As part of the “rust belt”, northwest Ohio has experienced a steady decline in the amount of good paying labor jobs over the last couple decades. I would love to see the region take off as a leader in the manufacture and production of turbines for the Midwest region. Why should we pay someone in Europe to build them and then ship them all the way to the great lakes only to then put them on a truck and move them to the Midwest. Lets build them right here in the heartland and use them right in our own backyard.