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Friday, May 21, 2010
Blowing past the naysayers
Boston Business Journal
He’s nine years into a regulatory odyssey. His project has been ambushed by political forces near and far. But the rest of the country has finally caught up to Jim Gordon, CEO of Cape Wind, who had the temerity (and more importantly, the resources) to propose putting 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound. Now he has half of his power sold to National Grid, and construction of the wind farm may begin as soon as the end of the year. This is very good news for Massachusetts and the nation.
Although wind farms can be found all over Europe, placing one in Massachusetts was greeted with tremendous trepidation. Cape Wind would ruin the fishing. It would kill countless birds. It would be plain ugly. None of these objections held up, but the lawsuits kept coming.
Now, with the rate deal with National Grid secured at 20.7 cents per kilowatt hour, Cape Wind is being attacked for producing expensive power. National Grid says it is happy to pay the premium to support the project, which will cost the average National Grid customer about $1.60 per month.
An expensive boondoggle? Hardly. The moment of economic truth for Cape Wind will come about 10 years or so down the line, on a very hot summer day when the price of various fossil fuels have escalated. Then the price National Grid negotiated with Cape Wind in 2010 will look like a bargain.
But even in the present, the extra rate to subsidize Cape Wind is a very good deal for Massachusetts. The project will put the commonwealth in the forefront of American wind technology while up to 1,000 people construct the wind farm. The Cape, in particular, will benefit from the economic activity, and ironically, the wind farm will draw many thousands annually from across the country, year-round, to survey this “eyesore.”
The project Jim Gordon has fought so hard for promises to become an icon for the future of American energy generation. And we expect it to emerge as a source of great pride and economic benefit for the state.
Although wind farms can be found all over Europe, placing one in Massachusetts was greeted with tremendous trepidation. Cape Wind would ruin the fishing. It would kill countless birds. It would be plain ugly. None of these objections held up, but the lawsuits kept coming.
Now, with the rate deal with National Grid secured at 20.7 cents per kilowatt hour, Cape Wind is being attacked for producing expensive power. National Grid says it is happy to pay the premium to support the project, which will cost the average National Grid customer about $1.60 per month.
An expensive boondoggle? Hardly. The moment of economic truth for Cape Wind will come about 10 years or so down the line, on a very hot summer day when the price of various fossil fuels have escalated. Then the price National Grid negotiated with Cape Wind in 2010 will look like a bargain.
But even in the present, the extra rate to subsidize Cape Wind is a very good deal for Massachusetts. The project will put the commonwealth in the forefront of American wind technology while up to 1,000 people construct the wind farm. The Cape, in particular, will benefit from the economic activity, and ironically, the wind farm will draw many thousands annually from across the country, year-round, to survey this “eyesore.”
The project Jim Gordon has fought so hard for promises to become an icon for the future of American energy generation. And we expect it to emerge as a source of great pride and economic benefit for the state.
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Diane Hessan, President & CEO - Communispace
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