Proposed wind farm off Block Island remains stalled
Although Governor Carcieri has met with General Assembly leaders to try and get a proposed wind farm near Block Island back on track, his office is not ready to announce a remedy for the project — if one has even been found.
The eight-turbine wind farm proposed by Deepwater Wind hit a major roadblock March 30 when the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission rejected a contract for the sale of the power it generates to National Grid, the state’s dominant electric utility. The commission’s three members were unanimous in their assessment that the proposed sale price of 24.4 cents per kilowatt hour did not meet the standard set by state law of being “commercially reasonable.”
The decision was a huge blow to the project. Without a buyer for its electricity, Deepwater will struggle to secure financing for a $200-million development that aims to be the first of its kind in the United States. Offshore wind farms have so far been built only in Europe. There are none in this country. Read more…
PF Online Version 4-9 Projo.pdf [562.03KB]
