This is an interesting project studying wind speeds at higher altitudes and making use of cell towers.

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Wind Monitoring Commences in Sullivan
(northern Ashland County)

Columbus Ohio, January 24th 2006, Green Energy Ohio (GEO) announces the start of wind monitoring at a site near the village of Sullivan, in northern Ashland County. The Sullivan wind study is part of the Ohio Tall Towers Wind Assessment Initiative being conducted by GEO and funded in part by the Ohio Department of Development and the US Department of Energy. Wind resource assessment studies are being conducted under the Ohio Tall Towers program as preliminary research in determining if large-scale power generating wind turbines can be located around the state.

Windpower is the fastest growing source of electric power in the U.S. today, but Ohio has been slow to follow this trend. Traditionally Ohio has been considered a marginal state for wind energy development, but a wind study by GEO in Bowling Green during 2000, revealed a better than expected wind resource. This study lead to the installation of Ohio’s first utility scale wind farm ( the AMP-Ohio / Green Mountain Energy Wind Farm) by a joint venture of 10 AMP-Ohio communities. The successful performance of the Bowling Green wind turbines over the past two years has clearly signaled the start of a new era for windpower in Ohio. These turbines are generating green power at a cost that is below the cost of power coming from natural gas or diesel generation plants in Ohio.

Sullivan now becomes the third site in a limited group of 6 sites that will be selected for inclusion the Ohio Tall Towers Initiative. Wind monitoring started last summer at heights up to 330 ft at the first two sites in the program, Bryan in Williams County and Wapakoneta in Auglaize County. The Sullivan site was selected because of a combination of cell tower availability and because of site characteristics that indicate a good potential resource.

Support from Verizon Wireless for this project has been instrumental in making the Sullivan site happen. Verizon Wireless provided access to its cell site to be used for monitoring, and offered assistance with installation of the monitoring equipment. Bill Spratley, Executive Director of GEO says, “Ohio is starting to obtain visibility at the national level regarding wind power development and the significance of Verizon Wireless’ collaboration with GEO at the Sullivan site further demonstrates that Ohio is organizing itself to take advantage of these new opportunities”.

Tall Towers Staff Researcher Steven Watts, comments that “the Sullivan site very interesting because the site is located almost exactly on top of the Eastern Continental Divide and it is represented well on both the Ohio Wind Map and the R200 Relative Exposure map for the state”. Watts goes on to say “that the Ohio Wind map has been generated from a complex computer model which estimates the wind resources around the state. The Tall Towers program is significant in the fact this is the first time that any high-level wind resource data has been collected in the state and this data will help validate Ohio’s wind map”.

“Verizon Wireless is pleased to support an initiative that’s so vital to the future of wind-generated power,” said Roger Tang, president–Ohio/Pennsylvania Region, Verizon Wireless. “We hope that our commitment to the Tall Towers Initiative will assist in raising awareness of the viability of wind as environmentally-friendly energy resource.”

Monitoring will be conducted in Sullivan for a period of 18 months. All data from the Sullivan test site will be available to the public though GEO as well as the US Dept of Energy and ODOD. A final study report will be issued at the end of the study period that will summarize the wind resource at the site, and provide estimates of power that could be generated at the site from modern utility scale wind turbines.

About Green Energy Ohio (GEO).
Headquartered in Columbus, GEO is a statewide not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting environmentally and economically sustainable energy policies and practices in Ohio. GEO promotes renewable energy by acting as a clearinghouse to inform Ohioans about sustainable energy. For more information on the Tall Towers project, as well as other GEO initiatives, please visit the GEO website at www.greenenergyohio.org

Contact: Steve Watts at 1-330-721-1555 steve@greenenergyohio.org

Bill Spratley at 1-866-473-3664 (Toll Free) bill@greenenergyohio.org

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation’s most reliable wireless network, serving 49.3 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, N.J., Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com.. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Contact: Laura Merritt, Verizon Wireless, 614-561-2605, laura.merritt@verizonwireless.com