A year-long study monitoring wind patterns on the Raber and DeTour township border to possibly build a wind turbine farm is nearing completion. The study conducted by the City of Holland Board of Public Works (BPW) east of Goetzville will culminate at the end of October. Andrea Keneau, spokesperson for the Holland BPW, said it will take an additional 30 to 40 days to analyze the data collected before the City of Holland determines if it will go forward with a $140 million wind farm project.

The City of Holland approved spending $1.3 million September 24, 2008, to study the 1,500-acre plot owned by downstate developing company Stone Mountain Properties. Two meteorological towers were erected in late October 2008, to measure a year's worth of wind cycles through the seasons.

If the municipality does decide to develop the property, it will erect 20 turbines, producing up to 50 megawatts of wind energy, which is enough to power between 4,500 and 6,000 homes, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Elsewhere in Chippewa County, a two-year wind study southeast of Rudyard is about halfway complete. Milwaukeebased Half Moon Power is proposing to build 30 to 40 turbines to generate between 60 and 80 megawatts of power on up to 8,000 acres of leased land on both sides of I-75.

"They've got one more year of wind data collection," said Bruce Berkompas of the Rudyard Township Planning Commission. "It will be at least a year or two before we would see any development. Everything is still in the planning stages."

In Mackinac County, wind studies are still being conducted on a 133-acre site off the shore of Lake Michigan one mile west of Epoufette. The site is being looked at to possibly develop a 20-turbine wind farm. Doug Bundy, who leased 60 acres of his land for the project to downstate developer Windfarms USA, said the project is expected to cost between $50 and $100 million.