Wind Will Power Our Future

The following is a reprint of an op-ed piece by Mark Rogers, Communications Director of Cape Wind, the private-sector organization presently proposing the first off-shore wind-farm in the United States on Horseshoe Shoal in the Nantucket Sound south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

The United States can increase its use of wind power over the next two decades to supply twenty percent of the nation’s electricity without any technological breakthroughs, according to a first-of-its-kind report issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) last month.

The report entitled, "20% Wind Energy by 2030" [PDF, link not provided in the original -ed.], forecasts that target can be met with 300 gigawatts of installed wind power in the United States assuming that electric demand also increases by 39 percent.

According to the report, the DOE expects coastal states to harness 50,000 megawatts of offshore wind in shallow water depths of less than 100 feet.  The report notes for some coastal states (like Massachusetts) shallow water offshore wind can provide 100 percent of the electricity supply.

The DOE further states that increasing the use of wind power to supply 20 percent of the nation’s electricity would reduce carbon dioxide emissions (that contribute to climate change) from the electricity generation sector by 25 percent while creating up to a half million new American jobs.

This increased use of wind power would allow the U.S. to reduce its use of natural gas by 50 percent and its use of coal by 18 percent to generate electricity, according to the DOE, and this would improve energy independence and national security. The report notes that without this increased use of wind power the U.S. would substantially increase its use of natural gas for electricity generation, with heavy reliance upon imported liquid natural gas (the greatest suppliers of which will be Iran, Qatar and Russia).

Finally, the DOE notes that increased use of wind power will benefit Americans by making the price of the energy more stable and less vulnerable to the price volatility seen from fossil fuels.   While the cost of building all new forms of electrical generation including wind power has increased considerably, at least the fuel cost of wind will always be stable, at zero.

Locally, some have argued that we should put aside shallow water offshore wind projects and instead wait for deepwater projects. The U.S. Department of Energy takes a very different view in its new report:

“Shallow water wind turbine projects have been proposed and could be followed by transitional and finally deepwater turbines. These paths should not be considered as mutually exclusive choices. Because there is a high degree of interdependence among them, they should be considered a sequence of development that builds from a shallow water foundation of experience and knowledge to the complexities of deeper water.”

We at Cape Wind were pleased recently to see that over 41,000 (of the 42,000) written comments received by the Minerals Management Service on their Environmental Impact Statement were in support of our project moving forward.  While we recognize that in this day in age that any energy infrastructure project will face opposition, we note that two recent independent polls found statewide support for Cape Wind at 86 percent and that support on the Cape and Islands is growing.

We hope to complete permitting by the end of this year, and we look forward to one day providing 75 percent of the electricity needs of the Cape and Islands from the clean and inexhaustible winds on Horseshoe Shoal. 

As America’s first offshore wind farm, Cape Wind would help make Massachusetts a global leader in offshore renewable energy while also helping the United States move toward the goal of supplying 20 percent of its electricity from the power of wind.

Cape Wind Associates, LLC
75 Arlington Street; Suite 704
Boston, MA 02116
phone: 617-904-3100
fax: 617-904-3109

Comments

[Barbara Durkin]

Cape Wind has made the claim for years that there is only one suitable site for their industrial wind energy installation, Horseshoe Shoals in Nantucket Sound. In his My View, 'Wind will power our future', Mark Rodgers of Cape Wind now represents that there are enough shallow water sites available to power the entire state of Massachusetts.

The Cape and islands community has been severely divided by this proposal that pits new energy technology proponents against proponents of historic use rights, tourism, and scenic value. Three thousand Massachusetts fishermen, represented by Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership, are opposed to Cape Wind as a "taking" threat that would compromise their safety in this Essential Fishing Habitat.

Mark Rodgers rewrites history by his revelation that there enough shallow water sites off the coast of Massachusetts to power our entire state.

So, what does Cape Wind find so intriguing about this area of Nantucket Sound that local residents have passionately engaged to defend from industrialization?

The data collection tower located on Horseshoe Shoal as identified in special interest language in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 has Cape Wind's undivided attention. It's not Horseshoe Shoal's wind that Cape Wind wants to capture so much as the competition that Cape Wind wants to avoid.

Of the seven alternative sites identified during Cape Wind's review process, only one site provides Cape Wind with the opportunity to secure a no-bid deal and eliminate all potential competition, Horseshoe Shoals, where this data tower exists.

As Senator Ted Kennedy has observed: "Cape Wind, under Section 388, is exempt from undergoing the competitive bidding process that will apply to all other offshore alternative energy developers. Thus, if approved, Cape Wind it will have acquired development rights to an immensely valuable and ecologically fragile area of the OCS, without having to compete with any other company for those rights."

Cape Wind now concedes that there are many Massachusetts offshore sites that are suitable for wind energy installations; but just not for theirs.

Thank You,

Barbara Durkin
Northboro, MA

Reference; Senator Kennedy's quote: http://www.tedkennedy.com/content/860/concerns-with-the-cape-wind-proposal

[Barbara Durkin]

Cape Wind’s ‘Wind will power our future' provides a startling admission from Mark Rogers that there are enough shallow water sites off the coast of Massachusetts to power the entire state.

This is a welcome concession to Cape Cod and the Islands. For seven years, Cape Wind has insisted that there is only one “viable” site for their industrial wind energy installation, Horseshoe Shoals in Nantucket Sound. According to Mr. Rodgers, now, there are plenty of sites that are suitable.

What they don’t tell you is the real reason Cape Wind wants Horseshoe Shoals. It's quite simple. Just before the Bush Administration leaves office, Cape Wind would be given an exclusive no bid deal for this area. Even though offshore wind costs are double those of land based wind farms, Cape Wind gets a deal that is worth hundreds of millions in taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies, a real boon to Wall Street.

What does the public get? -- a navigation hazard in the middle of our fishing grounds and next to shipping lanes, and electric power costs that would, at minimum, be double the current wholesale cost of current energy, per MMS Cape Wind DEIS.

Cape Wind now concedes that there are many offshore sites that are suitable for offshore wind energy installations; but just not for theirs.

[Elmo]

That's good, Barbara. All those shallow water sites will eventually be used for wind, as will the coastal deep-water sites, too.

They're all needed if we are going to save the environment you claim to prize.

Your straw-man, not-in-my-back-yard arguments amount to a few trivial inconveniences and character assassination in the context of a great imperative.

What is your argument? That we should have no wind power, or that we should put it where it is prohibitively expensive & therefore uncompetitive in the energy market-place? You fail to provide a necessary context for defeating Cape Wind.

Wind turbines are beautiful.

[Barbara Durkin]

Elmo:

The "SSA" transports 3 million ferry passengers in Nantucket Sound per year, along with 6,000 cars.

The FAA has issued a presumed hazard on the Cape Wind project. All three local airports are opposed to Cape Wind. They cite safety concerns, vertical obstructions and radar interference caused by wind turbines among their objections to Cape Wind to the federal regulators.

Wayne Lampson General Manager of the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority that operates 56 transits per day between Wood's Hole and Martha's Vineyard; and twenty eight between Hyannis and Nantucket commented to the lead agency, Minerals Management Service MMS in response to the Cape Wind draft EIS, (their argument):

“The Steamship Authority continues to have serious concerns about the potential hazards and impacts of the proposed Cape Wind project to the safe navigation and operation of our vessels in Nantucket Sound."

The President of Mass Audubon, Laura A. Johnson comments on the Cape Wind DEIS on February 23, 2005: Reference File No. NAE-2004-338-1, EOEA No. 12643:

"By utilizing other bird mortality data provided in the DEIS, Mass Audubon staff scientists arrived at avian mortalities that ranged from 2,300 to 6,600 collision deaths per year."

The compromise of public safety is not a trivial inconvenience.

Please read the testimony:

Congress.org:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=297&letter_id=1208243361

And, listen to the testimony:

Cape Wind National Public Radio, NPR:

http://streams.wgbh.org/online/play.php?xml=cape2/cape_wind/mms-boston1.xml&template=cainan

As Christy Mihos, the Big Dig whistle blower, has said:

"If you like the Big Dig, you'll love Cape Wind."

[Barbara Durkin]

While I do not agree with your position on the Cape Wind project, your taste in music is fantastic.

[Homemade Wind Generator]

Funny that the environmentalists who demand we switch to wind are ultimately willing to sacrifice thousands of square miles of beautiful water to windmill farms. Yuck. :) Although personally, instead of the big farms, I'm going with the homemade wind generator where I get to own all the power.