By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
CONNEAUT — Last year’s hot development topic in Conneaut — wind turbines — is starting to stir again, officials said.
BQ Energy, the New York firm that expressed strong interest in erecting turbines in town, has not wavered, and a project could come together over the next several months, City Manager Robert Schaumleffel Jr. said Friday.
“We would like to do something with them,” he said. “They’re saying maybe next year.”
In 2008, turbines were the rage, and at one point three different energy firms talked of putting the gigantic machines on city-owned land in the East Conneaut Industrial Park. The city was on the verge of signing a contract with one firm before BQ Energy gained favor among some City Council members and administrators.
Council President James Jones and Finance Director John Williams visited BQ’s new wind farm in Lackawanna, N.Y., last year and returned impressed with the project. The company gained more converts after a meeting with council. The city suggested BQ prepare a proposal for review, but the document hasn’t arrived, Jones said.
“Hopefully, they’re still interested,” he said. “We have no proposal yet.”
The city stands to make money from such projects through the leasing of land to the energy companies. BQ also is pursuing a wind project in Ashtabula Township.
Wind turbines and other alternative-energy projects are being encouraged in Ohio via new laws that offer a wide range of incentives. The state’s new green-friendly attitude has spurred interest in a multimillion-dollar wind turbine farm in Lake Erie off Cleveland’s coast.
Other wind projects are being discussed closer to home. The city briefly has discussed the value of erecting a turbine to provide power to the water treatment plant on Lake Road, while some Conneaut Board of Education members wonder whether turbines could put a dent in the school district’s electric bills.
