<b>By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN<br>
Michigan Correspondent</b></p><p>

SIDNEY, Mich. — Farmers in Montcalm County learned last week that wind could be their new cash crop.<br>
Rich Vander Veen, president and CEO of Mackinaw Power, based in Grand Rapids, talked with a group of about 100 farmers and citizens about wind energy during a meeting hosted by the Montcalm Land Use Coalition March 13 at Montcalm Community College in Sidney.<br>
Mackinaw Power has already installed two wind-powered turbines near Mackinaw City and recently finished construction of 35 turbines in the state’s Thumb region. Building a wind farm is not a decision that is made lightly. Vander Veen told the group three to five years is spent researching locations for wind turbines, conducting feasibility studies and securing land leases from local property owners. He also said potential avian and wildlife impacts are studied.<br>
“We use best practices to select the best sites,” he said. “Part of the deal is to find the places where it’s windy.”<br>
According to Vander Veen, wind peaks in the late afternoon, around 3-4 p.m. and calms down around sunset. Open fields tend to provide the best wind opportunities.<br>
“A wide open stretch of land without any trees” works best, he said.
While he did not pinpoint an exact location, Vander Veen said the company is looking at the potential to develop a site in the county. Another project is in the works in neighboring Gratiot County.<br>
The company has already installed test towers in Gratiot County’s Bethany and Lafayette townships. If the project gets off the ground, Vander Veen told the group that each 2.5-megawatt turbine would cost about $4 million to construct. The life expectancy of each turbine is about 30 years on the blades and gear box and about 100 years on the tower. Up to four turbines can be built on each section of land.<br>
The company has filed a request to construct a 200-megawatt project in Gratiot County, or 80 turbines. Each turbine would produce enough energy to power about 800 homes.
“We don’t want them competing with each other for wind,” he said of the turbine spacing.<br>
The benefits, he said, are that wind power not only offers an alternative energy source, it offers landowners another income from their property. Wind-powered turbines on farmland could supplement farm income through land-lease contracts. According to Vander Veen, his company pays $5,000-$10,000 per lease annually.<br>
“This could be a very good thing for a family,” he said.
A wind turbine occupies an area of about 25-by-25-feet. Vander Veen said all power transmission lines are buried. That allows farmers to continue to utilize surrounding farmland for crop production.<br>
“We work with the landowner to determine where (the turbine) should be located,” he said. “It’s very important to look at how the farm is going to be used in the future – where a center pivot may be located. Once you put that turbine there, it’s going to be there for 30 years.”<br>