The cost of wind power

Massachusetts law requires that utilities obtain 3.5% of their power from “green sources”.  One of the projects that has finally received approval is called Cape Wind.  This will place 130 wind turbines in a 25 square mile area on public land in Nantucket Sound.  It will be owned by a private developer, and, all that is missing now is financing.  I suspect that means, money from Washington, D.C.

In a recent opinion piece entitled “Nantucket’s Wind Power Rip-off”, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reviewed the available information about the cost of electricity that will come from Cape Wind.  I hasten to add that the Kennedy’s have been long time opponents of this project (it was first proposed in 2002).  But, having said that, I have no reason to doubt the figures included in the article as they come from filings by NSTAR, one of the state’s two power suppliers (the other is National Grid), to demonstrate compliance with Massachusetts law.

NSTAR has contracted with several land based wind farms and,

…these contracts come in at $111 million below market averages [for wind power] over the standard contract period of 15 years.  The price of Cape Wind comes in at $1 billion above market averages according to Cape Wind’s own regulatory filings…

So, it really should come as no surprise that NSTAR does not want to buy power from Cape Wind.  However, the state may force them to do so.

…[A]fter years of fighting off pressure by the state of Massachusetts to jam its customers with higher costs, [NSTAR] is being told to accept the higher costs after all.  The state’s leverage?  A proposed merger of NSTAR with Northeast Utilities…In effect, the state administration is trying to hold hostage the proposed NSTAR-Northeast Utilities merger unless the [merged company] agree[s] to by Cape Wind’s power.

So, the state rate payers be damned.  It’s all about “helping” the private developers of Cape Wind make a boatload of money.

To those on the left who wonder why those on the right want to keep government out of their lives, look no further than this.

 

Posted in ,

SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

15 Comments

  1. Anybody but Obama on August 20, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    Lets not forget about the collateral damage, all the wildlife that will be butchered.



    • SoundOffSister on August 21, 2011 at 7:01 pm

      Don’t you understand, Anybody, butchered wildlife is irrelevant.? Unless it is an oil company who steps on a protected flower, or, who has the misfortune of a protected lizzard dying of old age on its property, then it’s a gabillion dollar fine.



  2. johnboy111 on August 21, 2011 at 10:54 am

    also thank the Kennedy’s for forcing us to buy new “safer” propane tanks???with overfill protection and get rid of millions of perfectly good ones we had already purchased and payed TAXES on..follow the money…who owned the co. that profited??friend of the family perhaps..



  3. Dimsdale on August 21, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    What creates more wind power: the bloviating from Congress or the giant sucking sound from countries taking our jobs??
    ?
    There should be a way to harness all that energy…



    • Lynn on August 22, 2011 at 8:29 am

      The bloviating from Congress.



  4. NH-Jim on August 22, 2011 at 11:41 am

    Or, SOS, if it is the hardest-working Americans like our local fishermen/women.? The Federal Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission?s American Lobster Management Board tried to mandate a 5-year moratorium on lobstering in Long Island Sound.? This would most definitely be the death knell to the lobster fishing industry in CT.? Those lobstermen that wish to stay in the business would move to Maine as Maine does not fall under this mandate.
    ?
    Or, the scallop fishing industry which is crippled under federal mandate/restrictions.? The feds don’t give a rats __s about small businessmen like our local fishermen.? They have all the environmentalist fervor about protecting and sustaining wildlife when it only hurts the average hard-working American but, when it could…



    • NH-Jim on August 22, 2011 at 11:43 am

      …hurt the major players like energy corporations and “bought-and-paid-for” politicians, wildlife just doesn’t matter.
      ?
      Meanwhile, people continue to buy unregulated seafood out of Thailand.



  5. sammy22 on August 22, 2011 at 11:58 am

    “the giant sucking sound from countries taking our jobs” is made by those countries who have developed and are building wind turbines and solar panels.?



    • Anybody but Obama on August 22, 2011 at 1:11 pm

      Like GE moving those jobs to offshore.



    • NH-Jim on August 22, 2011 at 1:38 pm

      and those squiggly light bulbs too.



  6. PatRiot on August 22, 2011 at 12:49 pm

    Another fine example of corporate welfare.
    A local yard sign bemoans the fact that we now live in a “Corpocracy”

    – SOS – help me understand:? By common sense and the Constitution the Feds should not mandate that people buy healthcare.? Yet the state can force a company, and by default its customers,?to buy a higher priced? product?



  7. sammy22 on August 22, 2011 at 1:44 pm

    Is GE a US company? How come they’re allowed to move jobs off-shore? Oh, wait, another disclaimer coming.



    • kateinmaine on August 22, 2011 at 5:13 pm

      ge can do as it wishes–jeff immelt is a f.o.o.? (friend of obama)



  8. Don Lombardo on August 23, 2011 at 10:13 am

    Kennedy was against the wind program NOT because of the cost. The Kennedy’s were worried about the ocean views and interference to pleasure boating. Kennedy loves wind energy – as long as it’s not in his? backyard.



frontpg-wind-farm

The website's content and articles were migrated to a new framework in October 2023. You may see [shortcodes in brackets] that do not make any sense. Please ignore that stuff. We may fix it at some point, but we do not have the time now.

You'll also note comments migrated over may have misplaced question marks and missing spaces. All comments were migrated, but trackbacks may not show.

The site is not broken.