Cape Wind Backers Blew Right by Cost. By Beth Daley, BostGlobe, 10/10/10. “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 willcost up to 50% 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%, 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.
“In the end, the cost of Cape Wind will not be known for years after it is built. That’s because its fixed price will look attractive if fossil fuel prices go up substantially. But if those prices go down, it could look like a bad deal. In addition, there’s no way to calculate Cape Wind’s other benefits: The value of reduced greenhouse gas emissions and of building the country’s first offshore wind farm to help chart a path away from fossil fuels is largely incalculable.”
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