Developers interested in Lake Michigan wind farms

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Three developers are interested in putting high-tech windmills in Lake Michigan off the Wisconsin shore.

The idea is to convert the stronger winds from the Great Lakes into electricity.

State agencies are now studying the concept to see if it’s feasible.

William Goldstein of suburban Chicago is looking at placing 390 wind turbines in Lake Michigan about 18 miles east of Milwaukee.

But he says the project’s on hold because the technology is not fully developed yet.

Also, the California firm of EWindfarm has proposed 610 turbines a couple miles off-shore between Kenosha and Kewaunee.

And the DNR says an undisclosed developer has brought up the idea of a couple hundred turbines somewhere in east central Wisconsin.

The Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming recommended the concept a few weeks ago, as a way to create power with no pollution.

But folks with a great view of Lake Michigan might complain just like Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy griped about a proposed wind farm that could be seen from his family’s compound at Cape Cod.

State and federal agencies would both have to approve the Wisconsin windmills. Approvals could take years.

Tags: wisconsinnews, windmills, lakemichigan, wisconsinshore