Ohio small-scale wind energy installations are still in demand

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Despite moves made by Ohio’s legislature to thwart the development of large-scale wind farms, there’s still a steady demand for small wind energy installations to power factories and small businesses.

These smaller projects, with just a few turbines, rank Ohio among the top 10 when it comes to the amount of megawatts installed since 2003, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Since then, Ohio has added 42.1 megawatts of wind energy from smallscale projects, good for sixth in the nation, according to the Energy Department report. Yet it pales in comparison with Texas, the nation’s leader with 197.7 megawatts from small-scale projects.

“A lot of people don’t recognize how mainstream this industry has become,” said Jose Zayas, director of the Energy Department’s Wind Energy Technologies Office.

In Ohio, Honda has two turbines at its transmission plant in Russells Point, producing enough electricity to make up for about 10 percent of its purchases from the local utility, according to the automaker.

Whirlpool Corp. has turbines that help power its dishwasher factory in Findlay.

There also are turbines that generate electricity for schools.

But the momentum for big wind farms came to a halt in 2014 when state lawmakers increased the minimum distance required between a wind turbine and nearby structures and put a twoyear freeze on state standards requiring electricity companies to buy certain amounts renewable energy.