GLIN==> Best practices in Great Lakes wind energy to be advanced through new Wind Collaborative project

*Best practices in Great Lakes wind energy to be advanced through new 
Wind Collaborative project*

*For immediate release:* May 27, 2009
http://www.glc.org/announce/09/05glwc.html

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- The Great Lakes Commission will receive $99,740 to 
fund the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative's (GLWC) development of/ Best 
Practices to Accelerate Wind Power in the Great Lakes Region and 
Beyond/. The Commission was one of 53 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 
wind energy grant recipients announced by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu 
at the recent WINDPOWER 2009 Conference in Chicago, with Commission 
staff in attendance. The Commission's award is one of 11 projects funded 
in the Great Lakes region. Funded projects totaled $8.5 million nationwide.

Through this project the GLWC, a multi-sector coalition of wind energy 
stakeholders facilitated by the Great Lakes Commission, will examine the 
policies and practices that are working best within and beyond the 
region, which allow wind development yet are protective of the 
environment and sensitive to community concerns. The GLWC will partner 
with other regional groups including the Great Lakes Legislative Caucus, 
the Midwestern Governors Association and the Great Lakes and St. 
Lawrence Cities Initiative to ensure that information developed reaches 
those best positioned to use that information in developing policy at 
the state and local level. Additionally, the best practices and policy 
options developed will be served up publicly on the internet to inform 
individuals who are interested in wind development in the region.

"The Great Lakes region represents a central and substantial piece of a 
20 percent wind future," said Larry Flowers, principal project leader at 
the U.S. Department of Energy's National Wind Technology Center. 
"Regional collaboration, as represented by the Great Lakes Wind 
Collaborative, to address the common issues, evaluate the local 
successes, and communicate the benefits of a robust wind energy future 
in the region is a critical first step toward a cleaner, more secure and 
prosperous future."

According to the U.S. DOE, grants awarded will help begin to address 
market and deployment challenges identified in DOE's 2008 report/ //20% 
Wind Energy by 2030/. An analysis conducted by DOE's National Renewable 
Energy Laboratory indicates that a 20 percent wind scenario would reduce 
CO2 emissions in the eight-state Great Lakes region by 1,260 million 
tons between 2008 and 2030. That same analysis showed that a 20 percent 
wind scenario would save 616,601 million gallons of water over the same 
period. That's 70 times the amount of bottled water consumed in the 
United States in 2007 or about 90 percent of all Great Lakes water 
consumptively used in a year.

Some of the Great Lakes states have robust policy structures that have 
been tried and tested, while others are still in their early stages. 
This project will help nascent markets develop their own policies more 
quickly through the development and strategic dissemination of an online 
"toolbox" of best practices. By enabling states to learn from each other 
and build a more consistent regional profile for wind siting policies 
and practices, this work will help overcome barriers and promote the 
benefits of wind development in the Great Lakes region.

"Development of alternative, sustainable energy sources is a priority 
for all the states," said Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, chair of the 
Great Lakes Commission. "This project will be a valuable resource as 
Illinois and the other Great Lakes states move forward to meet their 
energy needs using reliable, yet environmentally sound, approaches."

"We are quite certain that the development of wind power in the Great 
Lakes will accelerate in the coming years," said GLWC Steering Committee 
Chair Terry Yonker, president, Marine Services Diversified, LLC. "The 
GLWC has seen the wave approaching and views this grant as key to 
developing the best policies and practices to insure that wind power 
development is economically feasible and environmentally sustainable in 
the binational region. U.S. and Canadian stakeholders need to get this 
right."

The GLWC Best Practices project is widely supported by a number of 
regional and national partners, including the states of Illinois, 
Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin; U.S. DOE National 
Renewable Energy Laboratory, Council of State Governments (including 
their constituent groups -- Great Lakes Legislative Caucus and the 
Midwestern Governors Association), Clean Energy States Alliance, Great 
Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, and the National Wildlife 
Federation.

Said Mark Sinclair, executive director of the Clean Energy States 
Alliance and co-chair of the GLWC Advisory Committee: "With this new DOE 
funding, the Great Lakes states will have the resources to work together 
and with key stakeholders to guide wind development to the most 
suitable, environmentally suitable locations in the region. This is 
exactly the type of innovative state/federal/private cooperation that is 
needed in this country to achieve a clean energy future."

Increasing wind energy generation will be a critical factor in achieving 
the Obama Administration's goals for clean energy and green jobs. The 
Commission's new work in this area will help to ensure that wind 
development in the region is undertaken in ways that protect the 
environment while growing the economy.

Other groups in the Great Lakes region receiving awards under this DOE 
funding include:

    * *Clean Energy States Alliance, Inc. (Montpelier, VT)*/ //- Wind
      Powering America State Outreach Project -/* **$100,000*
    * *Illinois State University (Normal, IL)*/ //- Illinois Wind
      Working Group -/* **$99,941*
    * *RENEW Wisconsin (Madison, WI)*/ //- Sowing the Seeds for a
      Bountiful Harvest: Shaping the Rules and Creating the Tools for
      Wisconsin's Next Generation of Wind Farms -/* **$93,348*
    * *Windustry (Minneapolis, MN/)/*/ //- Regional Community Wind
      Conferences -/* **$100,000*
    * *The Board of Regents of the UW System (Madison, WI)*/ //- A
      Continuing Education Short Course and Engineering Curriculum to
      Accelerate Workforce Development in Wind Power Plant Design,
      Construction, and Operations -/* **$119,135*
    * *Lakeshore Technical College (Cleveland, WI)*/ //- POWER -
      Purposeful Partnerships Coordinating Wind Education Resources/ -*
      **$199,236*
    * *Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA)*/ //- Wind
      Energy Workforce Development - Engineering, Science, and
      Technology -/* **$398,456*
    * *University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI)*/ //- Integration of Wind
      Energy Systems into Power Engineering Education Programs at
      UW-Madison/ -* **$399,931*
    * *University Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI)*/ //- Southeast
      Wisconsin Wind Energy Educational Collaborative -/* **$330,184*
    * *Cascade Engineering, Inc. (Grand Rapids, MI)*/ //- Cascade
      Engineering, Inc. Application - Swift Wind Turbine -/* **$100,000*

For more information, visit the GLWC online at www.glc.org/energy/wind 
<http://www.glc.org/energy/wind> or contact John Hummer or Victoria 
Pebbles at the Great Lakes Commission, 734-971-9135.

###


/The Great Lakes Commission, chaired by Gov. Patrick Quinn (Ill.), is an 
interstate compact agency established under state and U.S. federal law 
and dedicated to promoting a strong economy, healthy environment and 
high quality of life for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region and its 
residents. The Commission consists of governors' appointees, state 
legislators, and agency officials from its eight member states. 
Associate membership for Ontario and Québec was established through the 
signing of a "Declaration of Partnership." The Commission maintains a 
formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, 
tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional interests. 
The Commission offices are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan./

 

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