Great Lakes

Throughout the Great Lakes area, public officials are calling for more data on offshore wind energy, sensible regulatory  and permitting processes, and wind farm proposals from project developers. Michigan and Ohio leaders see the opportunity for offshore wind farms as a race to attract jobs to their states. A report ordered by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm found that 20 percent, or 7,874 square miles, of the Great Lakes waters within Michigan’s  territory have a depth of 30 meters or less (practicable for offshore wind development), of which 537 square miles are most favorable for offshore wind farms. Governor Ted Strickland and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio aim to make Lake Erie the site of the first freshwater offshore wind farms, and are pushing for legislation at the state and federal levels to accelerate offshore wind development. There are also several proposed offshore wind farms in the Canadian- controlled waters of the Great Lakes.