U.S. Department of Energy Praises Offshore Wind Energy Project in Massachusetts

U.S. Department of Energy Praises Offshore Wind Energy Project in Massachusetts

Apr 14 - Cape Cod Times

The U.S. Department of Energy has praised the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm as an important first step, and perhaps the foundation, of a more focused American wind energy industry.

In a letter sent March 31 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- the principal reviewer of the ambitious Cape Wind plan -- an energy official predicts the local review process will provide helpful guidance in future wind energy development.

David K. Garman, assistant secretary to the office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, suggests the project responds to federal policy that makes alternative energy a priority.

Though the two-page letter provides little comment on the Cape Wind plan specifically, it represents perhaps the most resounding endorsement yet from a federal agency for this project.

The Cape Wind plan, which would place 130 wind turbines in the shallow waters of Nantucket Sound, would be the nation's first offshore wind farm.

"We commend the vision, leadership and action by all parties to this project," Garman wrote, "and their efforts to move our nation towards a sustainable energy future."

Many others applaud the Cape Wind proposal as a chance to provide renewable energy on a large scale, though critics say Nantucket Sound is not the right place for reasons environmental, fiscal and aesthetic.

A final decision rests with the New England district of the Army Corps, which is now reviewing more than 5,000 comments on the project, including input from thousands of public citizens and reports from numerous federal and state agencies.

It's no secret the federal government is promoting renewable energy, said Tom Welch, a spokesman for the Department of Energy.

The department is researching ways to make the United States more competitive in the wind market, he said, and supporting private companies that are doing the same.

In his letter Garman, the department's third-ranking official, wrote: "With over 900 gigawatts of potential wind power located in offshore areas adjacent to major demand load centers, we must work together to tap this resource in a responsible manner."

The wind farm on Nantucket Sound would produce an average hourly output of 170 megawatts, which developers say could supply about 75 percent of the Cape's average energy needs.

Other agencies have provided more technical, and sometimes critical, assessments of the Cape Wind project, including: -- The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Interior, which each urged further study of the effects of the wind farm on wildlife.

n The Coast Guard, which requested studies of how the wind turbines might affect radar, maritime traffic and ice floes.

n The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, which suggested a more complete shellfish survey of Nantucket Sound.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs concluded that the project, though more study was needed, could move to the next phase of review.

Susan Nickerson, who as executive director of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound opposes the Cape Wind project, said the other agency reviews reflected more technical analysis of the project than the Department of Energy's letter.

Rather than an endorsement of Cape Wind, she described Garman's letter as more of a reminder of America's need for large-scale wind energy development.

"Yes, we agree," she said, referring to the alliance's stand on wind energy. "But to apply that generic principle to the Cape Wind project at this point is premature."

Jim Gordon, president of Cape Wind, called the letter good news.

He's not surprised that different federal agencies have different perspectives on the wind project.

"Any time you have 17 federal agencies working on a multi-year federal project," he said, "you'll have differing opinions."

He was pleased the Department of Energy focused on project benefits that he's been talking about for years: that it provides an alternative to foreign oil, that it would reduce pollution, that it would create jobs.

"They clearly recognize this project is in our national interest," Gordon said.

-----

To see more of the Cape Cod Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes .

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.