Northwest Ohio Wind Energy Begins Development of Ohio’s First Utility-Scale Community-Based Wind Project

Grover Hill, Ohio – April 14, 2009 – National Wind, LLC, announces today the formation of Northwest Ohio Wind Energy, LLC, a community wind development company in Paulding and Van Wert Counties in Ohio. A group of area landowners and investors previously organized as Ohio Wind Energy, LLC, joined with National Wind, LLC, and the local community to form Northwest Ohio Wind Energy. Northwest Ohio Wind Energy, managed by National Wind, plans to develop 300 megawatts (MW) of wind power projects in Paulding and Van Wert Counties in northwestern Ohio and is off to a strong start signing leases with local landowners.

Ohio has only seven megawatts of wind power projects currently installed, while neighboring states to the east and west each have over 100 megawatts of operating wind projects. New legislation, however, is stimulating great interest in wind energy in Ohio.

In May 2008, the State of Ohio passed an Alternative Energy Resource Standard, which went into effect on January 1, 2009. By 2025, utilities and electric service companies in the state of Ohio will have to procure at least 25% of their retail electricity supply from alternative energy resources. Northwest Ohio Wind Energy hopes to help utilities in the state meet the standard’s requirements by developing 300 MW of community-owned renewable energy in Ohio.

“As wind development increases in the state, many farmers and landowners are joining groups to educate themselves on what wind projects could mean for their livelihoods,” says Terry McClure, Chairman of the Northwest Ohio Wind Energy local Advisory Board. “Our group out in Paulding and Van Wert Counties decided that a community-based project would likely add more to our local economy than a traditional wind development.”

“One of the primary goals of our community development model is to keep a large portion of potential financial benefits in the local community,” says project developer Scott Hafner. “We also work to maintain open communication and landowner representation. Landowners and farmers in the Northwest Ohio Wind Energy project area have the opportunity to help guide the development process via regular advisory board meetings and landowner forums.”

Northwest Ohio Wind Energy, LLC, is one of twelve families of community-based wind projects currently being developed by National Wind. Together, these wind projects, if constructed, are expected to be able to supply more than 1,200,000 average American homes with power.

More information about Ohio’s first large-scale community wind project is available online at www.northwestohiowind.com. Interested landowners are also invited to contact field specialists Pete Karlsson and Kelly Ellis at 419-605-0585 to set up a meeting or to visit Northwest Ohio Wind Energy’s office at 101 South Main Street in Grover Hill, Ohio.