It isn’t only PJM’s Atlantic states that see promise in offshore wind. The Great Lakes also offer strong winds, along with their own unique challenges — winter ice, opposition from tourist towns, and in Pennsylvania, development restrictions put into law by casino opponents.

Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Indiana have potential Great Lakes wind generation of 2 million GWh annually, three times their electric consumption, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Of the total potential of 487 GW about one-third are in depths of 30 meters or less. (These “technical potential” estimates generally don’t consider economic or market constraints that will reduce actual renewable generation.)

Michigan, with shorelines on three lakes, has the largest share of potential lake wind, although Ohio benefits from its 312-mile shoreline on the shallowest, Lake Erie. Portions of Lake Ontario (New York) also have shallow depths. The other lakes are mostly deep water, which would make wind development more expensive.

False Starts in Michigan, Pennsylvania

In 2012, 10 federal agencies and the states of Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania signed a memorandum of understanding to coordinate and simplify regulatory review of offshore wind projects. While the states own the lake bottoms, federal law requires approval of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the placement of fill or structures, including electric transmission lines, in or under navigable waters.

The Corps will make its decisions in coordination with the other federal agencies after considering impacts on migratory birds and bats, impacts on air traffic and radar capabilities and potential shipping disruptions.

Despite the Lakes’ great potential, would-be developers have been stymied to date by inconsistent state government support and aesthetic concerns from lakeshore towns.

Michigan jumped into the offshore race in 2009 when Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, formed the Michigan Great Lakes Wind Council. The council issued a 2010 report identifying five optimal areas for wind development: one in Lake Superior and two each in Michigan and Huron.

Offshore wind also seemed to be gaining traction with officials in Wisconsin, Ohio and Illinois. Then the 2010 elections, which replaced Democratic governors with Republican ones in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, changed the dynamic. “It was like somebody flipped the switch and the resounding collective interest in wind energy on the Great Lakes disappeared overnight,” Arnold Boezaart, director of the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center at Grand Valley State University, told Midwest Energy News.

In 2011, the New York Power Authority abandoned a proposed 150 MW Great Lakes wind project, saying it “would not be fiscally prudent” at costs two to four times more than onshore wind. The same year, Ontario ordered a moratorium on offshore wind development to conduct additional studies. Two years and three studies later, the moratorium continues.

Ohio: Cleveland in the Lead

Ohio has the clear lead to be the site of the first freshwater wind in North America — though even there it’s far from certain that it will happen.

The Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo), a non-profit economic development organization, is planning a six-turbine, 18-MW pilot project in Lake Erie, seven miles offshore Cleveland. It was one of seven offshore projects that won $4 million grants from the Department of Energy in February to complete engineering, site evaluation, and planning.

Developers recently conducted soil sampling to determine how to build the foundations for the $150 million “Icebreaker” project. The developers need to complete their plans and obtain permits by February 2014 to be eligible for an additional $50 million grant from DOE.

LEEDCo, founded in 2009 by the city of Cleveland and four lakeside counties, has set a 2015 target for operation. “We will certainly be the first freshwater project,” said LEEDCo spokesman Eric Ritter.

LEEDCo has a memorandum of understanding to sell 25% of the farm’s output to Cleveland Public Power.

It is hoping to encourage other utilities and retail marketers to purchase the remaining output by getting 10,000 retail consumers to sign a “Power Pledge” indicating their willingness to pay extra for offshore wind. To date, almost 1,000 consumers have signed the pledges, which allow them to specify how much they are willing to see their electric bills increase. The median increase volunteered was $10 per month.

Ritter said the pledge is intended to counter the notion “that people aren’t willing to pay extra for (renewable) electricity.

Michigan: Developer “Run Out of Town”

Scandia, a Norwegian company, ran into a buzz saw in the tourist town of Ludington in 2009 after announcing plans for a 200-turbine wind farm in Lake Michigan. Residents were concerned the wind farm would ruin their lake views and hurt local tourism.  “They were basically run out of town,” Boezaart told Midwest Energy News.

Michigan Gov. Granholm was replaced in 2010 by Republican Rick Snyder, who says that offshore wind is “not a priority.”

Last month, two Michigan state representatives introduced a bill that would stop any research or production of offshore wind power in the Great Lakes. The sponsors say they are acting to protect ratepayers from being liable for turbines that could be destroyed by winter ice.

Pennsylvania: No Movement since 2010 Disappointment

In 2010, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill to clear the way for wind in Lake Erie but the bill died after failing to get a hearing in the Senate.

The bill would have eliminated a 25-acre limit on leasing of Lake Erie bottomland, a restriction pushed into state law years earlier by opponents of a proposed casino, according to John Nikoloff, a lobbyist who represented a would-be wind developer.

Now, Nikoloff said in a recent interview, “it’s just not one of the (legislature’s) priorities .”

Nikoloff said the legislature’s focus has been on managing the growth of its shale gas drilling industry. New legislation to aid offshore wind won’t move, Nikoloff said, “unless there are companies that are seriously interested” in developing the lake’s resources.

Illinois: Making a Move?

The Illinois legislature in 2011 created the Lake Michigan Offshore Wind Energy Advisory Council, prompted by the city of Evanston’s interest in developing a farm.

The council worked with the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to produce a June 2012 report that recommended criteria for reviewing development applications, identifying favorable sites, and setting compensation levels for lakebed leasing.

In mid-May, an Illinois Senate Committee joined the House in approving a bill authorizing DNR to identify the best sites for offshore wind and to grant leases on them. HB 2753 was approved unanimously by the Senate Energy Committee after passing the House 90-21 in April.