It would involve building an offshore wind turbine farm in Lake Michigan waters near Mason and Oceana Counties.
MASON AND OCEANA COUNTIES -- It's in the initial stages but a proposal is in place for an offshore 1,000 Megawatt wind farm in Lake Michigan near Mason and Oceana Counties.
Scandia Wind Offshore out of Minnesota along with a Norwegian partner, Havgul Clean Energy are spear heading the proposal which they're calling "The Aiger Project."
"This is the earliest stages and they're just trying to at this point, gauge whether there's community interest in what they're proposing," says state Representative Dan Scripps.
Representative Scripps was at a public hearing for the proposal Monday night in Oceana county. He says more than 500 people were in attendance and several were voicing their concerns.
"Especially with how close the proposal is from shore. They have turbines that would be as close as two miles away from the Lake Michigan shoreline off Pentwater....Also raising some concern at the state level because we have a Great Lakes Wind Council that has come up with a set of draft recommendations," says Scripps.
7&4 News also spoke with a representative from Scandia Wind Offshore and he says right now the company is strictly trying to get public input. He says if the project does go forth it would take between five and six years for construction to start.
However, he says the Lake Michigan waters off of Mason and Oceana Counties are ideal.
"From a technical point of view it's the best spot in the United States for an offshore wind farm and that is due to a combination of factors," says spokesperson for Scandia, Harald Dirdal.
These factors include grid access to the Ludington Pumped Storage Power Plant as well as the water depths in Lake Michigan. Plus, Dirdal says wind power would be generated for both local industries and households.
"Two things I'd like to see are taking the right balance between the opportunity of offshore balance, but also to make sure that we've got a real opportunity for the public to have their voices heard during this process before any permits are given out, before any leases are signed," says Scripps.
The developers say if the project is approved it would cost between $3 and $4 billion.
Another public hearing about the wind turbine farm is scheduled for Monday night at 7 o'clock at Ludington High School in Mason County.
