Updated: 4:55 p.m., Friday, Sept. 18, 2020
The Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) has requiring a proposed wind farm in Lake Erie shut down its turbines overnight from March 1 to Nov. 1.
Board members unanimously approved a motion by Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, to remove the requirement at the OPSB meeting Thursday.
Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) applied to build the six-turbine project, named Icebreake, off Cleveland鈥檚 shoreline in 2017. It would be the first offshore, freshwater wind farm in the United States.
Questions about whether the project would threaten bats and migratory birds prompted stiff opposition from .
When the permit was issued in May, LEEDCo President Dave Karpinski said the overnight shutoff stipulation, which his company referred to as a 鈥榩oison pill,鈥� would make Icebreaker economically unrealistic.
鈥淚magine you鈥檙e going to the bank to get a mortgage and you say, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 my salary. Oh, by the way, I may or may not get a third of that. I don鈥檛 really know what the rules are going to be.鈥� It鈥檚 really challenging. So that鈥檚 the situation that we鈥檙e in,鈥� said Karpinski.
Sam Randazzo, Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, which includes the OPSB, defended the restriction, saying it was meant to allow construction to begin while giving the developer and the state time to figure out the best way to protect birds and bats flying near the turbines.
Between the May approval, which included the shutoff provision, and Thursday鈥檚 decision, involving the state鈥檚 largest utility, FirstEnergy, former House Speaker Larry Householder, and $60 million in allegedly corrupt payments has thrown new scrutiny on how state energy policy is made.
Randazzo, who before chairing the state鈥檚 utility regulator, defended the commission鈥檚 actions in the wind farm鈥檚 case.
鈥淭he reality is, as acknowledged by the bird and bat expert Icebreaker presented, this project is unique,鈥� Randazzo said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 why so much time and effort was being spent in trying to figure out how to collect information that would be reliable for purposes of determining what the appropriate bird and bat risk mitigation protocols should be.鈥�
The seven members of the board all voted in favor of removing the provision.
After the vote, Randazzo said the project will now have to wait until bird and bat protection protocols are agreed on before it can move forward.
Several lawmakers participate in board meetings as nonvoting members, including Cleveland-area Democrats state Sen. Sandra Williams and state Rep. Jeff Crossman. Both were proponents of the wind farm and critical of the decision to add the overnight shutoff requirement.
State Sen. Steve Wilson called in to the meeting to say Senate Republicans don鈥檛 think the board should take any action to block any type of energy production, wind power included.
LEEDCo's Karpinski welcomed the board's decision but said the delay was a major setback for the project.
"This was more than a bump in a road. We were fighting for our life here," Karpinski said. "If this wasn't reversed, there was no path forward. So we've got to re-evaluate. How do we get the project back on track?"
He said LEEDCo鈥檚 goal is still to build a wind farm in Lake Erie.
Opponents of the wind farm also saw some reason for optimism after OPSB鈥檚 decision.
Because the restriction on overnight operation was part of the approval to start construction, the board withdrew its approval along with the restriction.
LEEDCo will need to meet new conditions set by OPSB before a new approval is granted.
Norm Schultz, an opponent of the project and president emeritus of the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association, said there鈥檚 plenty that needs to be done before windmills are constructed in the lake.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not totally out of the ballgame at all because now ODNR is going to have to take a serious, hard look at whatever mitigation plans LEEDCo can come up with,鈥� Schultz said.
Officials from LEEDCo are challenging the requirement that a mitigation plan to prevent bird and bat deaths must be set before receiving approval to start construction.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my understanding that no wind projects go through this stage with a finalized mitigation plan at the time of the certificate,鈥� Karpinski said.
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