BY ED GEBERT
DHI Media Editor
egebert@timesbulletin.com
VAN
WERT — A new bill introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives seeks
to change wind turbine setback regulations which would enable wind
energy companies to work within Ohio counties to license new wind farms.
The legislation, House Bill 190, is co-sponsored by local
representative Rep. Tony Burkley along with Representative Tim W. Brown
(R - Bowling Green).
In early 2014, Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed
HB 483 which included revised setback standards which essentially made
it unfeasible to build new wind farms in Ohio. That signing came as
Iberdrola Renewables was lobbying to build a companion wind farm to its
Blue Creek Wind Farm which opened in 2012. The Blue Creek project has
152 2.0 megawatt turbines operating on 100 meter towers.
The new
bill would revise the law to permit counties to adopt resolutions
establishing an alternative setback for wind farms and extend by five
years the deadlines to get the qualified energy project tax exemption.
In the case of a wind farm, that would move the date to qualify for an
exemption from the end of 2015 to the end of 2020. For projects using
clean coal technology, advanced nuclear or cogeneration technology it
would be extended to the end of 2022.
House Bill 190 was introduced in the Statehouse on May 6.