All eyes will be on Lake Township later this month as its residents, Planning Commission and Board of Trustees continue to wrestle with a proposed wind  ordinance that’s been over a year in the making.

While some say the proposed ordinance is too comprehensive, I say it is appropriately thorough and could be a model for other townships in the state.  

An important focus of the ordinance as currently written requires safe setbacks from wind turbines and in particular, setbacks from neighboring homes.

There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence from several states and other countries that proximity to wind turbines, especially the 400-foot type already present in Elkton and Ubly, causes a multitude of problems for neighbors.  Medical research is still studying “Wind Turbine Syndrome,” the unhealthy side-effects nearby residents endure.  So, until the studies are more conclusive, don’t we owe it to all residents to be mindful of health traumas already reported and be cautious in how we proceed?

In every Lake Township meeting, a herd of DTE executives and their hired “experts” perch themselves in the audience to protect their wind energy development interests.  They’re eager to make use of the county setback allowance of only 1000 feet from a neighboring property.  The lower the setback footage, the more turbines they can install and the more money they can make.  DTE contends 1000 feet is certainly “safe”.

Keep in mind, these are the same folks who boast their “reliable” electrical service to this area.  How many power outages, without explanation,  

do you have with DTE?  How many Huron County residents have had to buy generators and back-up sump pump battery equipment while they pay for this “reliable” service?  How many  times do you come home to find you’ve had a brief outage that may have power-surged your appliances?

The Lake Township Planning Commission is wisely formulating an ordinance that protects its residents’ welfare more than DTE’s.  After all, this utility company has not shown it can adequately manage the technology of 50 years ago, let alone the 21st century.

Yet DTE persists and presses this county.  Its representatives dismiss customers who have complaints of their present day “service” and disregard concerns of how future power development may negatively affect the area. 

Have you noticed, in the many  TV ads promoting wind energy, that you never see a single dwelling anywhere near the vast expanse of wind turbines?  Those careful crafted ads show the ideal setting – lots of space, lots of wind, and no people.  They don’t want even to hint at the controversy that comes with having homes too close to an electrical energy factory.

I have long been environmentally “green”, and know we need to develop alternative sources of energy.  But we have to be smart, not short sighted, in our pursuit of green energy.  For that, our grandchildren will truly be grateful.

Jeanne Henry

Caseville