Wind turbines begin operation today

The Northern Lights glow over a wind turbine in Riverton earlier this fall.

RIVERTON TWP. — The controversial Lake Winds Energy Park begins operations today. The 56 wind-generation turbines, located in Riverton and Summit townships, tower over the hilly landscape in the heart of Mason County’s fruit orchards.

Lake Winds is Consumers Energy’s first wind park and has a generating capacity of 100 megawatts.

“Consumers Energy thanks Mason County and area governmental officials in particular, for making today’s start-up possible,” Bill Schoenlein, manager of hydro and renewable generation for Consumers Energy, said in a Consumers Energy press release.

Consumers Energy is the largest supplier of renewable energy in Michigan. The utility is on track to meet a requirement in Michigan’s energy law that by 2015, 10 percent of the electricity it provides to its 1.8 million electric customers will come from renewable sources in the state.