While it's yet to be seen if Illinois and the Great Lakes region will realize their full energy-generating potential, local wind power advocates scored two significant victories this week.

At the International Submerged Lands Management Conference in Traverse City, MI, government officials and scientists not only revived a controversial discussion over whether turbines had any place in the Great Lakes, they also began developing guidelines for anchoring them. From the Tribune:

It's only an idea -- for now. But government regulators are bracing for an expected wave of proposals for offshore power generation in a region that never seems to run short of wind.

Despite its allure as a plentiful source of clean energy, they say, offshore wind power could affect the aquatic environment and commerce. State and federal officials are taking initial steps toward writing rules, as conservation activists watch closely.

The potential for harnessing wind power from the Great Lakes is immense, the paper reports:

A Michigan State University study released this month said Michigan's portion of the Great Lakes could produce nearly 322,000 megawatts of power from wind -- a huge sum equal to roughly one-third of all electricity now generated nationwide.

Harnessing that much power would require placing nearly 100,000 turbines in the lakes, a remote prospect. Still, the study illustrated wind power's considerable potential for the region.

Wind power generated on that scale would put the country on pace to meet a lofty goal set by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to reduce the nation's electricity consumption by 20 percent within the next 22 years. To do so, the number of new wind turbines will have to increase from roughly 2,000 a year in 2006 to 7,000 a year by 2017, the DOE reports.

With wind farms popping up across the state, Illinois is already setting a national example for reducing electricity consumption. And this week brought news of another green-lighted project.

A proposed downstate wind farm with the capacity to power 40,000 homes cleared a legal hurdle this week. For nearly three years Invenergy has held the permits needed to begin building 100 turbines on a 12,000-acre stretch that straddles McLean and Woodford counties.

The project, known as the White Oak Energy Center, has been on hold, however, pending a legal challenge by some local landowners. With the dispute resolved, the Chicago-based firm will begin constructing its 12th wind farm to-date.