Wind Power Proposed In Baltimore City Amid Zoning Changes

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Laying the groundwork to catch the wind. It's in a proposal by Baltimore City Councilman James Kraft.

Alex DeMetrick reports if enacted it would bring wind turbines to the city.

When images of wind power spring to mind, it's usually large collections of huge machines. But over on the Eastern Shore at Chesapeake College, there's a different design.

"That's a relatively small-sized one but it does the job, and that's something we could put in a lot of locations around the city," Kraft said.

And with Baltimore now in the midst of changing zoning laws, Kraft wants to make sure wind turbines find a place "out toward Fairfield, out toward Fort Armistead," he said.

That's space primarily zoned industrial like landfills or the site of the General Motors plant or the Port of Baltimore, where wind generated electricity could literally be put to work.

"We could put moderate sized wind turbines there and use that either to operate facilities on site or to sell the energy off the grid," Kraft said.

Turbines would likely not start popping up downtown or in most residential areas, but some might function like Chesapeake College's, where a single turbine would help power a school.

Long range, wind could help reduce the city's carbon footprint.

Short range...

"Smaller electric bills for the city. Start generating our own electricity. Start being self-reliant rather than being dependent upon others," Kraft said.

But first City Hall must be convinced, and which way that wind blows is currently unknown.

The future of wind turbines in the city won't likely be known until the end of next year when new zoning laws will be finalized.