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Renewable energy seen from seat of power
(by Sue Reid - February 25, 2009)
Renewable energy seen from seat of power
By SUE REID
Solon resident Lorry Wagner's background with renewable energy has earned him a seat on the Ohio Power Siting Board, which is responsible for reviewing and approving plans for the construction of new energy facilities in Ohio.
Appointed last month by Gov. Ted Strickland to the vacant seat, Dr. Wagner holds a doctorate in nuclear and mechanical engineering and computer modeling from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. His main responsibility in his new role is to act as an advocate for the public, he said.
"I'm the public member on the board, and my job is to make sure the public's interests are being advocated," said Dr. Wagner, president of the Phillips Group based in Cleveland. He sits on the board alongside heads of state agencies, including the environmental protection agency, the department of natural resources, health and agriculture.
"My agency is the citizens of Ohio, basically anybody who is not a utility," he said.
Dr. Wagner was nominated for the position by Janine L. Migden-Ostrander, of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel.
Dr. Wagner said before any company can build a major utility facility like a new power plant or an electric transmission line or a gas transmission pipeline, the power siting board assures that it benefits Ohio citizens, promotes the state's economic interests and protects the environment and land use.
Once an application is created, the board does its own investigation to ensure that all the rules required by law have been followed, he said.
"My job is to make sure the staff has carried out all of their roles according to the public's interest," he said.
Dr. Wagner said his appointment was based on his background with renewable energy. "There is a great interest in the state to do more with wind and solar and whatever other renewable energy that might come along," he said.
Currently, there are no renewable energy project applications before the power siting board, which meets monthly in Columbus. Dr. Wagner said that will change, however, partly because of national policy and mostly because of state policy resulting from Ohio Senate Bill 221. The bill, which passed last summer, mandates that utilities buy a certain amount of renewable energy and increase the amount each year to 2025.
"There's a scale where they need to produce energy from other sources," Dr. Wagner said. "As the requirement kicks in more and more, utilities will be looking for more projects."
To meet the first year of those standards, he said, utilities are purchasing wind from out of state, because there are no projects in Ohio. For example, First Energy Corp. is purchasing it from Pennsylvania, and American Electric Power is purchasing it from Indiana, he said.
The bill requires that, as time goes on, half of their wind energy needs to be generated in-state. "There will be more projects as time goes on," he said.
Dr. Wagner said he is looking forward to it, because it's all so new. Although the power siting board has a "tremendous history" and has been around since 1972, wind is something completely new in Ohio, he said.
"As we go along in the process, which is well-defined, how we look at wind will set a precedence for future projects," he said. "It's exciting to be a part of something new that can have a huge impact on the state."
As president of the Phillips Group since 1985, Dr. Wagner was introduced early to wind energy.
Originally an industrial service company in the electrical side of the business, the Phillips Group did electrical installations and repairs, as well as sold new electrical equipment for quite some time, Dr. Wagner said.
"We have been able to provide energy efficiency services for our customers," he said, thus improving their electric efficiency so they use less electricity. Beginning in 1999, a division of the company began doing industrial automation, and was asked to participate in a hydro-electric dam project.
"That was our first renewable electric project," he said. The Phillips Group designed and controlled the computer system that controlled the valves and the power generation on the dam. Later, it installed a solar system at a steel plant in Cleveland, which was used to run its railroad crossing gates.
In 2005, Dr. Wagner was hired to be the project manager for the wind turbine at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, which was his introduction to wind energy, he said.
"Since then, we have been doing a lot more work and have decided to focus on wind energy for future business growth."
Dr. Wagner said the first large-scale wind turbines in Ohio were developed in the 1970s by NASA. In the 1980s, he said, as cheap oil came along, the desire to develop wind power reduced.
He said he finds it both surprising and interesting when people have complaints regarding wind turbines. "Here's a new clean technology with very little down side and very minor problems." He said that one or two birds a year or a bat are killed as a result of the turbines.
"In the big scheme of things, these are very benign generators of electricity," he said. "People are willing to put up with mercury in our fish and smog, and thousands of people are attributed to dying from coal plants each year in this country, but the public gets upset about wind turbines. They are willing to put up with something that is poisoning our atmosphere."
He said some people will say, "I like wind turbines, but not in my back yard."
"Wind and solar and whatever technologies that are coming down the road are the best way to replace things that are polluting our environment," he said.
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