can the wind power the windy city? prospects for wind turbines in lake michigan kalyna procyk...
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Can the Wind power the Windy City?
Prospects for wind turbines in Lake Michigan
Kalyna Procyk
Chicago-Kent College of Law
April 23, 2004
Lake Michigan is great resource
Source of drinking water
Tourism Transportation Freshwater
ecosystem Sustains many cities
Lake Michigan has problems
Caused by energy production
Air pollution Coal fired plants 50% of electricity
around Lake from coal-fired plants
Air pollution: bad for the Lake
Coal plant emissions deposits Mercury in Lake
Fish and Mercury Don’t eat Lake fish
more than 1x per week
Air pollution: bad for us
Harvard study 2 coal plants caused
43,300 asthma attacks, 1710 ER visits, 159 deaths
Chicago contributes 30% of Lake Mercury
Clean Energy in Lake MI area: wouldn’t it be nice?
Clean Energy Possibilities
Solar Biomass Hydropower Fuel cell Wind – the only
realistic option
Overview – can Lake MI wind provide reliable & cheap energy?
Background History Current projectsLake Michigan project
Pros/ consBenefitsProblems
Public opinion
History of Wind power
Before Common Era (B.C.E./B.C) windmills used to grind grain
By WWII a few were making electricity
1970s oil embargo California “wind rush”
Wind: a growing trend
Wind production increased in last 10 years worldwide
Capacity doubled between 1999-2003 22 states have wind projects IL has 3 projects in the works
Wind production
Offshore wind
1980s Oil prices went down, market dried up
1990s Denmark experiments with offshore wind
World Wide Offshore Wind production
Countries 5
Projects 16
Turbines 299
Capacity 552 MW
Annual Production
1.950.000.000 kWh
Offshore Wind Current Projects
International projects expanding fast
Denmark – 18% of all energy Wants to have 50% by
2030
Germany closing down nuclear plants 36 projects in the works 60,000 MW planned
Other countries United Kingdom Belgium Spain Poland France Ireland Sweden Canada
Offshore wind
U.S. Offshore wind projects
“Cape Wind” on Cape Cod, Massachusetts
130 turbines proposed 420 MW capacity Power ¾ of all of Cape
& Islands Graphically enhanced
view from Nantucket, 13.8 mi.
Lake Michigan Offshore Wind?
Already proposed here but not yet accepted
Proposal I - Possible location 3-4 miles offshore SE Wisconsin
Proposal II - Chicago Co. near Chicago but no filings with Army Corp. of Engineers…..yet
Conditions 14mph winds Class 4-5 winds 80-100 ft depth Many transition lines
Lake Michigan Winds
Why wind?
Decrease energy related air emissions
Comply with Kyoto Diversification
protects against price increases
Extends life of fossil fuels
Enhances national security
Revenue for states
Why Offshore Wind?
Higher winds Probably same cost Can be close to Lake urban areas Less noise Wind steadier over water Less visual impact
Problems
Aesthetics Noise & Safety Environmental issues Economics Reliability Regulatory Issues
Aesthetics
They’re ugly? Cape Wind issue Determinative issue Urban areas protest land based turbines Offshore less visually intrusive
View of Cape Wind:Graphically enhanced view from Craigville, 6.8 mi.
Noise
Turbines are noisy? From 250
meters, .43 decibels – a conversation
Industry nearby .50 decibels
Turn slowly 16 turns per minute
Safety
Boats Navigation Paint them red?
Flashing lights?
Environmental issues (1)
Bird kills 1980s California 50-
60 Golden Eagle killed per day
New turbines slower Scientists study bird
migration patterns Lake Michigan –
need further study
Environmental Issues (2)
Fish Turbines serve as
barrier reef promoting different species
Navigation difficulties Noise doesn’t appear
to harm
Habitat degradation w/ maintenance
No issues appear serious
Economics
Wind is still expensive $.03-.06 /KWH
Offshore wind costs more, but produces more wind up to 2x that on land
Land Issues
Land v. Offshore Wind turbines attractive
to rural areas Rent payments to
farmers $1,500-3,500 Taxes to counties MN
155MW farm received $721,000
Texas National Wind Project 20% of funds go to schools
Is wind energy reliable?
No Output varies with wind Need back up generation
Yes BUT, wind patterns very predictable Not a problem in Europe Also, can be serviced one at a time
How is wind reliable?
Wind energy contributes to overall reliability of overall electricity network
Decreases cost of electricity When fossil fuels are expensive, price forces
instability in industry costs Wind energy has stable price As % of energy system wind can decrease
overall costs, preventing volatile shifts in energy costs
Most significant factor in Wind cost - Policies
Policies are the main causes of price instability & decrease investment
Federal tax Credit ~1.5 cents Due to be renewed? internalizes benefits
of clean energy
Policies – States
State credits Low interest loans Property tax break Policy uncertainty drives price up because
increases risk
Policies – States (2)
Renewable Portfolio Standard Requires certain % of
energy bought/ created by a public utility to be from renewables
Soon, TX > CA in wind Incremental increase of
% of renewables 400MW in ’04, 600 MW in ‘06
Policies – Transmission Lines
Transmission line hookups Need to get energy from
turbines to markets No one wants to build
new transmission lines No incentive, no public
support, no $ Lake Michigan has many
lines
Offshore Regulatory Issues
Where federal & state jurisdiction meets & overlaps
How existing environmental regulations should be applied to Offshore Wind Development
How environmental permitting and Land use permitting relate to one another
Cape Wind I
Filed by opponents of project
Judge held that Cape Wind did not have to get fisheries license and environmental review from MA
Statute at issue said that state can determine “who, by what means and how much” someone can fish
Judge held nothing says MA can regulate non-fishing activities just because they impact fish
The point – its unclear what state environmental regulations would apply to offshore wind projects
Cape Wind II
Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound asked to invalidate a permit by Army Corps of Engineers to build a data collection tower
Argued USACE did not have jurisdiction to issue permit unless it related to resource extraction
Judge held that under sec. 10 Rivers and Harbors Act USACE has broad approval over any navigable water
Up to 3 miles offshore Sec 4(f) of Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act gives authority to regulate Outer Continental Shelf activities
Cape Wind II (2)
Wrongly decided? Outer Continental
Shelf Lands act ONLY relates to resource extraction
The point – there is no system for federal regulation to put things in Federal waters
Cape Wind’s regulatory problems
Under regulation causes regulatory uncertainty, thus increases risk & costs
no federal regulation ! Don’t want to give
private companies unfettered access to public lands
Very bad precedent to set in Lake Michigan, which is held in the public trust
Possible legislation?
Two bills (1) to regulate/ approve
energy activities on outer continental shelf under Minerals Management service under Dpt. Of Interior
No mechanism f/ distribution of land
Easements f/ right of way
(2) Ocean zoning Implication for Lake
Michigan unclear
Lake MI – Special Issues
Drinking water & Contained area make it a unique place
Other project should go first to determine implications
Energy supply in Lake area is stable
Could set a bad precedent for laying unwanted telecom cable or oil & gas pipelines
Lake Michigan – Public opinion
Hingtgen study Strong preference f/
onshore (65%) v. offshore (16%) in Lake Michigan area especially where visible
Exception – where area used for agriculture or industry
Public relations crucial in siting
Conclusions
It’s too early to tell what specific projects should or should not be developed in Lake Michigan
Watch legislation/ regulations closely
Bird & fish studies needed
More information needed on areas within agricultural or industrial zones
Unclear who would own the towers – co op v. independent producer
Unclear who would regulate local v. state v. federal government
But, wind turbines in Lake Michigan are a cleaner source of local energy and probably will be developed soon.
Sources
Davis, Brent. The Winds of Change, WL 102207060 (2002).
Galiano, Troy. Renewing the energy debate, WL 9686955 (2002)
GLREA RPS Position Statement, www.glrea.org/glrea_rps_position.html
Lerner, Howard. Cleaning, Greening and Modernizing the Electric Power Sector in the 21st Century, 14 Tul. Envtl. L.J. 277 (2001)
Hartland, Nathanael, The Wind and The Waves: Regulatory Uncertainty and Offshore Wind Power in the United States and United Kingdom, 24 U. Pa. J. Int’l Econ. L. 691 (2003)
Sources (II)
Millard, Pete. Prepare for wind farms on the Lake, milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2003/07/14/newscolumn1.html
Hingtgen, John. Offshore Wind Farms in the Western Great Lakes: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Their Potential. https://www.regweb.com/ECW/eserc/Presentation_for_Novem_seminar_JHingtgen.pdf
Doyle, Timothy. Can the Windy City Harness its Power? Xxx.cs.northwestern.edu:8000/article.asp?articleID=9179&item=archives
Sources (III)
Real de Azua, Christine, The Future of Wind Energy, 14 Tul. Envtl. L.J. 485.
Schulz, Michael. Questions Blowing in the Wind: The Development of Offshore Wind as a Renewable Source of Energy in the United States, 38 New Eng. L. Rev. 415.
www.capewind.org www.awea.org www.ewea.org