Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

More farming for wind

Mercer County landowners pen agreements with energy companies

By Shelley Grieshop
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Acres of farmland in southern Mercer County are under contract to wind companies for the possible construction of wind turbines. At least 18 tracts of land are currently locked into agreements with NextEra, Clipper and Invenergy - companies heavily invested in wind energy.

Several property owners in southern Mercer County already have signed legal agreements with wind energy companies.
According to the Mercer County Recorder's office, at least 18 tracts of rural land are under contract with wind energy companies, some dating back to August 2008. The companies include Invenergy, Clipper and NextEra.
NextEra has publicly expressed interest in developing a wind farm in southern Mercer County with up to 100 wind turbines. The company already has four wind speed test towers operating on land it is leasing from property owners in the St. Henry, Maria Stein and Fort Recovery areas.
"We believe there's potential for a wind project in Mercer County ... but it's all speculation at this point," said Steve Stengel, a spokesman for NextEra. "It's still fairly early in the development cycle."
The frenzy over wind energy is rampant as wind companies rush to meet deadlines for government subsidies. Ohio utility companies also are getting anxious; by 2025 they must purchase 25 percent of their electricity from alternative energy sources.
Not everyone is pleased with the idea of lofty turbines sprouting up amid cornfields. A local group called "Citizens Against Turbines" has been distributing letters and flyers about the negative aspects of wind energy. When contacted by The Daily Standard, they refused to speak publicly. They have created a website - windworrier.webstarts.com.
A letter recently drafted by the group and provided to the newspaper states "these monstrous turbines will destroy the friendly and peaceful way of life we have become accustomed to in Mercer County, causing our property values to decline, land-locking for potential growth and division of our close-knit community."
NextEra officials held a private meeting last week with some of the members of Citizens Against Turbines to address their concerns. Stengel said a lot of misconceptions exist about wind energy and the public deserves the facts.
"People have a right to be curious, to ask questions," he said.
Tom Stacy of Zanesville, an energy policy researcher and member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers National Energy Policy Committee, said he bases his opinion on wind energy from scientific facts.
And what's his opinion? Wind will never replace traditional sources such as coal and natural gas, he said.
"For every unit of energy on the grid, you have to have 2 to 21/2 units of another source, such as natural gas, to work," Stacy explained. "It's not really getting us away from fossil fuels."
Nuclear and coal-fired power are still the cheapest sources of energy, he said.
Wind energy will be expensive for consumers, although the cost increase won't immediately appear on electric bills, Stacy said. Thanks to Ohio legislation, utility companies tapping into wind energy cannot raise their prices more than 2 percent per year, he said.
Stacy believes communities will eventually feel the financial impact as tax dollars are spent on subsidies for wind companies instead of going to cities and towns for street repair and other improvements.
"That means less dollars for our schools, less services, the raising of taxes ... if more money is funneled toward wind energy," he said.
Stacy calls wind energy a "murky and complicated" matter and believes supporters keep it that way to blind-side the public from the negatives.
William and Cathy Dowler of Convoy in Van Wert County did their own research and soon will have two wind turbines spinning on their property. The structures are two of about 120 wind turbines being built next year in the county.
William Dowler, a Union Township trustee, visited an out-of-state wind farm before committing his land for the project.
"I leaned my arm up against the pedestal of one and it sounded like a computer humming," he said. "If I closed my eyes, I could hear a quiet swish but when I walked a few yards away, I could hear nothing."
He admitted the proposed wind farm north of Van Wert city has generated plenty of controversy.
"I can name neighbors who are upset about 'em," Dowler said. "But I think they're good for the community. And I guarantee land values will go up, not down, like some people think."
He and his wife will receive $5,000 to $7,000 per year, per turbine, depending on the amount of electricity generated, as well as $40 per acre each year, he said. The wind company also promised to compensate the family for crop losses and damages, he added.
"They're paying us pretty well for that," Dowler said.
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Celina schools
CELINA - School officials may hire an independent third-party consultant to assess the district's buildings and facilities, Superintendent Matt Miller said this morning.
With the holiday shopping season in full gear, increasing numbers of Americans are turning to their computers for great deals.
In 2009, Cyber Monda
COLDWATER - With the way he has stepped in for the Coldwater football team this season, Cavaliers' senior Ethan Bettinger could draw some comparisons to Earl Morrall.
CELINA - Last year's Celina boys' basketball team enjoyed the taste of tournament success for the first time in over three decades.
Celina came within one win of reaching the state final four after losing to eventual Division II state-champion Port Clinton in the regional finals.
CELINA - It's looking like a year of transition for the Celina girls' basketball team.
Bulldogs head coach Brian Stetler has to replace all five starters off a team that finished 16-8 last year, while also trying to implement a new style of play.
COLDWATER - The high school basketball preseason for Mike Bruns this season is nothing new.
The job title, however, has changed.
Bruns, a longtim
COLDWATER - The Coldwater girls basketball team lost a bulk of their scoring after a 13-8 campaign a year ago, and now head coach Nick Fisher is searching to find replacements as the winter sports season gets underway.
FORT RECOVERY - Brian Patch started coaching the Fort Recovery boys' basketball program in 2003-04.
Since then, the Indians have won a lot of games, but for Patch, this season feels like the first day at Fort Recovery seven years ago.
FORT RECOVERY - Some of the coaches in the Midwest Athletic Conference are picking Fort Recovery as a title contender this season since the Indians have five returning letterwinners.
MARIA STEIN - Things are going to look a lot different at The Hangar this year.
After hiring just the third boys' basketball coach for the Flyers in the past 32 years, Marion Local will begin the year with a new philosophy on how the game will be played.
MARIA STEIN - Marion Local girls' basketball coach Treva Fortkamp will begin her 13th year at the helm of the Flyers with some things that are old, some things that are new, nothing that is borrowed, but plenty of blue (and gold).
MINSTER - Mike Lee has grown accustomed to postponing the start of his own basketball season to accommodate someone else's extended success on the football field.
MINSTER - With four starters returning from last year's Division IV state semifinalist squad, the Minster girls' basketball team has many folks buzzing about a potential return trip to the Shottenstein Center in Columbus.
NEW BREMEN - For the New Bremen boys' basketball program, it is the year after.
The 2009-10 season was, in the words of veteran coach Mike Ernst, "
NEW BREMEN - For the third time since the turn of the century, the New Bremen girls' basketball program will be under new management.
Although the
NEW KNOXVILLE - After a 13-9 campaign in 2009-10, New Knoxville will look to retool after losing several key players from the regular rotation.
Head coach Kort Fledderjohann is happy with the way his team has been working in the preseason.
NEW KNOXVILLE - Once again, depth will be one of the major issues for the New Knoxville girls basketball team as they look forward to this season.
ROCKFORD - The Parkway boys' basketball team struggled in close games throughout last season and finished with a disappointing 10-11 record.
Panthers' head coach Doug Hughes is hoping to turn a few of those close losses into victories this season as the Panthers' season draws near.
ROCKFORD - The modest improvements the Parkway girls basketball program has had in recent years has drawn more athletes to the hardwood.
After goin
ST. HENRY - With one season of varsity basketball coaching experience in the rear-view mirror, St. Henry's Eric Rosenbeck is prepared to embark on his sophomore campaign with significantly more confidence than a year ago at this time.
ST. HENRY - Jeff Roessner is a veteran coach on the local basketball scene, but this winter he enters just his second season on the sidelines for the St. Henry girls' hoops team.
As expected, Dan Hegemier had an immediate affect on the St. Marys boys basketball program.
St. Marys won just one game during the 2008-09 season, but Hegemier directed the Roughriders to a 7-14 record last year, despite an 0-5 start to the campaign.
ST. MARYS - Kelly Fulmer will be very familar with her team as the second-year St. Marys girls basketball coach gets ready for the 2010-11 season.
The Roughriders lost just one senior from last year's 11-9 squad that finished 6-3 in the Western Buckeye League.
CELINA - The Celina swimming teams set lofty goals each season: Win the Western Buckeye League and place at the state meet.
Those goals may be attainable this year with a strong list of returning letterwinners to lead the way.
Coldwater's swimming and diving team is celebrating its 10 years as a varsity-level program with an abundance of athletes.
The AquaCav boys, after
MARIA STEIN - Participation is up again for the Marion Local swim teams, and second-year coach Kristi Klosterman hopes that more swimmers equals more success for the Flyers this year.
MINSTER - For Laurissa Dalrymple, her first year of coaching the Minster Wildcats' swim team is certainly one for adjustment in the early going.
N
NEW BREMEN - No coach is more excited to turn the page from last year to this year than veteran New Bremen swim coach Cresta Ritter and her girls' squad.
St. Marys swim coach Kim Menchhofer has experience for both the boys' and girls' swim teams as the Roughriders get ready for pool action this winter.
CELINA - After a season when Celina placed two wrestlers at the state tournament for the first time in school history, the MatDogs will work with a younger team that has just a hint of experience.
Although Coldwater's football team still has several of its potential wrestlers occupied for the time being, new Cavaliers' wrestling coach Rob Schmidt has a solid crew in camp, getting primed for the upcoming season.
Graduation hit the St. Marys wrestling team pretty hard as veteran head coach Larry Gruber is struggling to fill those voids in the early season.
Gruber is turning to his three returning district qualifiers from last year to be the team leaders for this season.