The New York State Thruway may soon become a thoroughfare toward a clean-energy future.

Wind turbines could become a common sight near six Thruway exits.Last week, the Thruway Authority asked developers to come up with a plan for installing mid-sized wind turbines at six Thruway exits near Lake Erie's eastern shore. All six are in Chautauqua County, just East of Buffalo, and benefit from strong, reliable winds.

The sites were identified as having potential for wind energy by studies done by AWS Truewind, a Latham-based wind mapping company, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Responses from developers are expected by March 5, and if that goes well the authority plans to call for specific offers over the summer.

Although it does not yet have a goal for the amount of electricity to be generated, NYSERDA has tentative plans to either purchase the power for its own use, or sell it into the state's wholesale utility market. The thruway authority operates tollbooths, maintenance buildings, and police offices at the six exits, which use1.2 million kilowatt-hours, or about 120 average homes worth of electricity per year.

Gov. David Paterson said the Thruway was helping to move toward the state's goal toward obtaining 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources like wind, solar, hydroelectric and biomass by 2015.

For further coverage of the thruway's plan, see the Albany Times Union.