Along with a boatload of other states. It's the latest con state politicians are selling to its citizens. What happened to the computer or information technology economy? And 30 years ago, wasn't nuclear power suppose to be some kind of answer to our energy needs? And 30 years ago, solar power was suppose to do something to. And now the answer to saving Ohio's economy and providing alternative energy is wind? Only if the hot air being spewed by the politicians can be harnessed.
Ohio has a lot of coal. Dirty coal. That's why the mines were shutdown over 20 years ago because it was cheaper to ship cleaner coal from the western states than to clean Ohio coal. But one or two mines in eastern Ohio have reopened recently, and the coal is being shipped to China.
Technology could be used to clean Ohio's coal, but it would drive up the cost of energy use for the consumer. Don't get the idea that putting up some wind propellers will lower energy costs. We'll have an eyesore on the land and no change in our electric bills except for the usual increase in electric costs. Meanwhile, Ohio coal will support the growth of China.
Maybe that's where Ohio's economy future really is: deep shaft coal mining that feeds China.
April 2007 story
Ohio's greatest wind potential is where its lagging manufacturing base is: in northeast Ohio and along the Lake Erie shore. Bowser said wind developers from Germany, Spain and elsewhere are swarming Ohio looking to position their turbines - and experience in states already using wind energy, such as Texas and California, shows that prices have not spiked.
"Where they want to put up wind turbines, they also want the manufacturing of those turbines to be very nearby because it saves on transportation costs," she said. "These things are enormous and very expensive to ship."
Ralph DiNicola, a spokesman for utility giant FirstEnergy Corp., said consumers seem to be demanding more alternative sources of energy, and his company has contracted for 300 megawatts of wind energy. But he cautioned that wind and solar power can serve only a fraction of the state's energy needs.
"You start doing the numbers on how many windmills would equal 2,000 megawatts of output and you'd cover the state," he said.
He said the visual impact of windmills and the fact that they generate most of their power during fall and spring, when demand is low, are issues that advocates must address. "If a state decides to move in that direction, that's a societal question," he said. "I think what we would object to would be subsidizing alternative energy. In Ohio, generation is not a regulated aspect of the utility industry."
A study by The Renewable Energy Project found that if there is a national investment in wind power - which experts believe will happen soon - Ohio has the chance to gain 22,000 new manufacturing jobs. The 13,000 of those jobs associated with wind power is the largest potential job gain from the industry of any state besides California. The gain pales in comparison to Ohio's manufacturing job losses - 234,000 since early 1998, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.