Evanston Mulls Off-Shore Wind Farm

Evanston Mulls Off-Shore Wind Farm
(Photo courtesy of Flickr)
Evanston Mulls Off-Shore Wind Farm
(Photo courtesy of Flickr)

Evanston Mulls Off-Shore Wind Farm

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
The city of Evanston is now taking a closer look at building a wind farm in Lake Michigan.

The city council voted unanimously Tuesday night to study whether it’s possible to build off-shore wind turbines.

But Evanston’s First Ward Ald. Judy Fiske says she has concerns about how the wind farm might obstruct views of the Lake.

FISKE: We’re going to be dealing with a developer in the middle of Lake Michigan - I mean, one of our treasured assets. … I was surprised to see this because I thought we wouldn’t see anything, as far as turbines, and now I’m looking at this and going “Oh. You can see the turbines.”

A city spokeswoman says she doesn’t know how much the proposal would cost.

But she says it could be paid for by private developers.

The off-shore wind farm is part of a larger plan for the city to reduce its carbon emissions by 2012.