Expert says RI wind farm power cost high, but might be work it
WARWICK — An energy consultant stood by his assertion that the price of power from an offshore wind farm proposed off Block Island is high, but he acknowledged Friday that the state Public Utilities Commission may consider long-term economic benefits from the project when it assesses the price.
On the fourth and final day of evidentiary hearings before the PUC, Richard Hahn, a power-market analyst hired by the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers, did not back off the assertion he made in written documents that Deepwater Wind, the company proposing the eight-turbine project, could lower the price of power and still make an acceptable return on its investment.
But he did say that the three members of the commission may look at other issues in determining whether the price National Grid, the state’s dominant electricity utility, would pay Deepwater for power from the wind farm — 24.4 cents per kilowatt hour in the first year of a 20-year agreement that would escalate 3.5 percent annually — is “commercially reasonable.” read more…
PF Online Version 3-13 Projo.pdf [559.77KB]
