Bill seeks to ease path for R.I. wind power
State lawmakers are attempting to breathe new life into a stalled proposal for an eight-turbine wind farm in waters off Block Island through legislation that would allow the project to bypass a difficult regulatory hurdle.
A bill filed late Wednesday would make it possible for developer Deepwater Wind and National Grid, the state’s main electric utility, to enter into a power-purchase agreement without having to win approval from the state Public Utilities Commission.
A month ago, the PUC unanimously rejected a contract between National Grid and Deepwater, its three members saying that the price of power in the 20-year agreement was not “commercially reasonable.” The proposed starting price, at 24.4 cents per kilowatt-hour, is nearly three times what the utility pays for energy from natural gas-fired power plants and other conventional sources.
Since the PUC decision, the project has been in limbo. A power-purchase agreement is crucial for Deepwater to tie up financing for its $200-million project, which the company and state leaders envision as the first offshore wind farm in the United States and a necessary precursor to a 100-turbine, utility-scale development also in waters off Rhode Island. Read more…
