Posted on 10/10/2010 5:42:37 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Amid the maelstrom of controversy over the nation’s first offshore wind farm, one truth is as plain as the proposed 440-foot turbines in Nantucket Sound are tall: Its energy will be very expensive.
That’s not just compared with power from coal and natural gas, but with renewable power from other sources.
Once the 130 turbines begin rotating, the energy produced will cost up to 50 percent more than energy today from some land-based wind farms and twice as much as some hydroelectric dams. The cost will increase customers’ monthly electric bills about 2 percent, and for many that is too steep in tough economic times.
So if Cape Wind is such a pricey proposition, why is it being built at all?
The answer lies at the intersection of a tenacious clean energy entrepreneur’s vision and an ambitious governor’s green one.
The arresting idea of a new energy source for power-starved New England was seized upon by Deval Patrick during his gubernatorial campaign. Then, after he won election in 2006, his administration helped engineer a sweeping overhaul of state policies that eased the path for the controversial proposal. Patrick and his energy czar, Ian Bowles, saw Cape Wind as just the project to spark a massive expansion of the renewable energy industry in Massachusetts.
They were focused on making Cape Wind happen; they didn’t worry nearly as much about the cost, a Globe review of state documents shows.
...
Now, after a new analysis by the attorney general’s office placed the cost of building Cape Wind at more than $2.5 billion, 2 1/2 times the original estimated price tag, the state Department of Public Utilities is weighing whether National Grid’s proposed 15-year contract with Cape Wind is a good deal for ratepapers.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Carley,
Isn’t that the project he cancelled last week because the state couldn’t afford it?
LOL. Is he getting rich?
Christie said he was willing to “reconsider” it. That doesn’t mean he’s accepting it though.
And Texas, by far, leads the nation in windpower.
In the near future(2013), the new windlines will be built and the Texas CREZ wind project will move forward and even more wind power will be generated in Texas.
Not to mention the potential for Texas offshore wind power. Texas has a leg up over other coastal states because Texas waters extend out 10 miles compared to 3 miles for other coastal states.
“Is he getting rich?”
He’s a high tech dentist. He’s rakin’ it in hand over fist!
Yes. LaHood swooped down to meet with Chrisite and make an offer Christie is willing to consider.
We’ll see what happens next but most likely it will be gummint dollars that saves the tunnel.
Since small consumers of electricity pay lower rates, the main impact will be on large users and business’s that will pay much more than 2% increase. This tends to drive business and jobs away from the higher rates. It isn’t as cheap as it sounds.
Wind trbines are all politics.
BUT, the energy source is “free” and renewable, so they’ll be at breakeven in about 2306.
Come on, be reasonable, it's only (our) money. If it was something important I'd get excited about it. /S
They could cut the cost by moving the windmills closer to shore, where they would be more easily appreciated by the green crowd that populates the area.
Christie just shut that down to much whining from the expected NY pols.
"Denmark, the world’s most wind-intensive nation, with more than 6,000 turbines generating 19% of its electricity, has yet to close a single fossil-fuel plant. It requires 50% more coal-generated electricity to cover wind power’s unpredictability, and pollution and carbon dioxide emissions have risen (by 36% in 2006 alone)."
The only people who benefit from wind energy are the turbine manufacturers, the construction companies and union members who build the windmills, and the investors who collect the federal energy subsidies. Taxpayers and energy consumers just get higher taxes, higher energy bills, and sanctimonious lectures on why their very existence is a burden to the earth and all of mankind.
Copy - so he doesn’t have to choose between dog food and electricity.
Agreed. Wind power in Texas makes much more sense than in Massachusetts. Drive I-10 from San Antonio to El Paso and you’ll see thousands of the big wind turbines -— in areas where they can be erected and maintained for a small fraction of the cost for similar turbines offshore in New England. And, as one who grew up in that part of Texas, I can tell you this: the wind in west Texas doesn’t blow, it sucks.
The problem in west Texas is transmission costs: the turbines are for the most part hundreds of miles from major population centers.
NOT shut down. Being reconsidered following an offer from Transportation Sec.LaHood.
If we built a large enough magnet at the Straits of Florida (something that is now feasible with carbon nano tubes) we could use magnetohydrodynamics to obtain enough electric power for the entire world for many years.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.