MAY 07

Last week, the Cape Wind offshore wind farm was approved by the federal government, but there were still some unknowns left to deal with, a major one being who would buy the power the wind farm generated.  Today, that part has at least partially been decided, with Massachusetts utility National Grid agreeing to purchase half of the power starting in 2013.

Under the contract, National Grid will buy the electricity at 20.7 cents per kWh, which will lead to an increase of only about $1.59 per month on its customers energy bills.

The contract is a win-win for National Grid and Cape Wind.  The agreement is enough for the wind farm to start securing financing and investors and the electricity being purchased will equal three percent of the utility's total load -- a big step towards a state requirement to get 15 percent of their total electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

The project is set to be completed by the end of 2012, but there are still other hurdles to clear:  more purchase agreements are needed, many lawsuits have been filed to halt the project and lots of red tape lays ahead to build the wind farm.

via Earth2Tech

Comments (4)

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It will be much more costly than what the article says
written by Fred, May 08, 2010

"an increase of only about $1.59 per month on its customers energy bills."

That is wrong.

That's the projected increase for customers using only 500 KWHours per month - which is about half the national residential average, and probably about 2% of what Al Gore uses at home.

Remember, businesses use much more electricity that residences.

There will also be automatic annual rate increases each year of the 15 year contract, adding up to a 50% rate increase over that time.

And I'll bet that there are clauses in the contract that allow for even more rate increases too.

Thorium-powered nuclear energy is the only way to go. Clean, safe, cheap power. Pull the thorium from our coal, and liquefy the coal to power our cars.

We need to be reducing energy costs, not increasing them.

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cost
written by bill, May 08, 2010

This electricity is being purchased at 20.7c per KwH with increases of 3.5% per year. The current cost of electricity in MA is 9c per KwH. Wind power has been produced elsewhere for 5c per KwH.

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...
written by john, May 09, 2010

Recent weeks have brought another advantage of wind and solar power to light: unlike coal mines and oil rigs, wind turbines and solar panels don't explode and kill people. They have no potential to create massive oil slicks that foul the Gulf of Mexico, either.

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Get wind turbines to where the wind is
written by mkass, May 10, 2010

There is more wind a thousand feet up than there is at the surface. Why not try to capture that energy? http://organicconnectmag.com/w...an-energy/

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