News Release

For Immediate Release                                                                         Page 1 of 2

Contact:  Jim Cooper, Key Accounts & Marketing Mgr., Traverse City Light & Power

               Phone: (231) 932-4560 or E-mail: jcooper@tclp.org

Contact:  Phil Callighan, Sr. Account Executive, Knorr Marketing

   Phone: (231) 947-9707, ext. 207; Mobile: (231) 342-7590

               or E-mail: philc@knorrmarketing.com

L&P Exploring Wind Turbine Site in Charlevoix

(Traverse City, Michigan) — In step with Governor Granholm’s call for Michigan to be a leader in wind energy, the Traverse City Light & Power Board of Directors has signed a real estate option and wind easement contract which may lead to the construction of wind turbines in Charlevoix County's Norwood Township, pending final zoning and permitting. Any construction would not take place for approximately three years. The first step in the process is erecting a meteorological tower to measure if wind speeds are sufficient to justify the construction of one or more wind turbines. Wind measurements will be collected before decisions can be finalized. Simultaneously, L&P plans call for a series of public meetings to inform, educate and receive input from area citizens about wind power. L&P erected two similar meteorological towers in the past in the Traverse City area.

The 400-acre site being considered by L&P is zoned industrial and is currently a rock quarry, just south of the city of Charlevoix on U.S. 31. The property is owned by Manthei Development.

            “Although we are confined by geographical boundaries, our service area is

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Page Two: L&P Exploring Wind Turbine Site in Charlevoix

increasing its consumption of electrical power,” said Linda Johnson, Chairman of the L&P Board. “Wind turbine-generated electricity provides a long-term fixed price energy supply, and is an excellent example of how Light & Power is committed to alternative, renewable energy resources. And, with no emissions or discharges involved, another chief beneficiary is the environment.”

Last September, speaking before a Wind Energy Conference at Michigan State University, Governor Granholm told participants that renewable energy projects will help re-build Michigan's economy and create jobs in the state. "Michigan is poised to be a leader in wind energy by harvesting the wind as a renewable energy source for our state and by producing the components that will make wind a reliable energy source across the country," Granholm had said. 

Traverse City Light & Power (www.tclp.org) is a community-owned, community-focused municipal utility that offers energy at low rates in the region to over 10,000 customers in Traverse City, and parts of Blair, East Bay, Elmwood, Garfield, Peninsula and Paradise townships.