Harnessing The Wind LANSING (Associated Press) -

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has signed an executive order creating an advisory panel related to offshore wind power development in Michigan.

The Great Lakes Wind Council was announced Friday. Granholm wants the 13-member panel to deliver a report by September on which areas in the Great Lakes may be feasible for offshore wind energy development.

The panel includes former Michigan House Speaker Curtis Hertel, Consumers Energy Co. President John Russell and Michigan Environmental Council policy director James Clift.

The U.S. has no offshore wind production, but projects are in the works for Atlantic waters off Delaware, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Environmentalists generally support wind power but worry about how turbines might affect fish and birds. © Copyright 2012, Associated Press