While T. Boone Pickens has garnered much attention in recent months with his well publicized plan to create a massive infrastructure for wind energy production in America's heartland, offshore wind energy is getting more attention in the heavily populated Northeast. While the Pickens Plan would require billions in transmission lines needed to bring electricity from the wind-rich regions of the central United States to population centers nearer to the coasts, offshore wind -- while by no means cheap -- would eliminate the need to build transmission lines over hundreds, if not thousands of miles inland.

According to the Department of Energy, the net incremental cost of a project like the Pickens Plan would be $43 billion, enough to bring wind energy to supply 20 percent of the nation's electricity by 2030.

The coastal Northeast, in an area known as the Mid-Atlantic Bight, running from Massachusetts to North Carolina could contain up to 330,000 megawatts of average electrical capacity, according to a study from the University of Delaware. This is a third of the Department of Energy's estimate of the total American offshore resource of 900,000 megawatts. There are about a dozen projects overall proposed for this region.

With rapid progress made in several states, 2008 might be later looked upon as the time when several projects took massive leaps forward, after a slow and painful process slowed or even stymied previous offshore wind projects. It is true that regulations for permitting and siting projects are still being developed by the Mineral Management Service. Cape Wind, at seven years old the longest-running proposal and seen as the template for such regulations, made some incremental progress. But several other projects took important steps when states chose developers or long-term power purchase agreements were negotiated between wind developers and incumbent utilities.

Delaware

After price shocks hit the state following electricity deregulation, the Delaware General Assembly passed a law calling for the state to generate more of its electricity. The Public Service Commission solicited proposals from all electricity resources. The Bluewater Wind Park proposal described a 200-turbine, 600-megawatt, $1.5 billion offshore wind farm. In May 2007 the Public Service Commission unanimously selected the Bluewater and ordered Delmarva Power to negotiate a contract. Delmarva argued that offshore wind would raise the average electric bill by $20 or more a month. But by last summer the companies signed a power purchase agreement with Bluewater Wind to build a scaled-down, 200-megawatt wind farm off the coast.

Rhode Island

Off the coast of Rhode Island, Deepwater Wind has proposed a $1.5 billion project that would erect more than 100 wind turbines. The state picked the developer from seven bidders following requests for proposals that were sought last spring. Rhode Island expects the wind farm to provide about 15 percent of the state's electricity, generating about 1.3 million megawatt-hours a year. The location has not been determined and Deepwater has committed to building manufacturing facilities for the project in Rhode Island. A formal development agreement is expected to be completed by year's end.

New Jersey

Regulators in New Jersey in September awarded rights to build a huge offshore wind farm in the southern part of the state. The selection is part of the state's Energy Master Plan, which mandates 20 percent of the state's energy to come from renewable sources by 2020. The proposal by Garden State Offshore Energy includes installing 96 turbines to produce as much as 346 megawatts. The project, which would cost more than $1 billion, is between 16 and 20 miles off the coast of New Jersey. It would not start producing electricity until 2013. Permitting from federal and state agencies is the next step for Garden State Offshore Energy.

Massachusetts

Cape Wind Associates first proposed a wind farm for Nantucket Sound seven years ago, and it has been mired in controversy ever since. The 130 turbines are expected to generate an average of 170 megawatts of electricity.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection last summer issued a water quality certificate for Cape Wind Associates' plan to install nearly eight miles of transmission cable that would connect to 130 wind turbines in the sound. The wind project would need an additional five miles of cable in federal waters. In itself that may not seem like much since it is only one of roughly 20 permits Cape Wind must secure before the turbines are built. A final federal assessment of the project's environmental impact is expected by the end of the year.

The Cape Cod Commission, the region's land use planning agency, denied Cape Wind's application for transmission lines a year ago, and the company's appeal to the state Energy Facilities Siting Board is pending. As part of that appeal, Cape Wind has asked the siting board to approve at least eight other state and local permits, a request that is still pending. There are also a number of lawsuits surrounding the project that have yet to be decided.

Long Island

The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) is preparing to explore wind power again, just a year after its previous attempt was dropped due to high costs. This proposal would be lower in cost and less visible, two objections the previous foray couldn't survive. LIPA in September said it would join with utility Con Edison to study the prospect of a 300-megawatt wind farm 10 miles off the coast of Queens. LIPA and Con Ed would split the costs and divide energy from the project. In August, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said the city would solicit proposals from companies interested in building offshore wind farms and placing turbines atop buildings in the city.

LIPA attempted to develop a 40-turbine wind-farm project, between 3.5 and 5 miles off the coast of Jones Beach. The plan was scrapped over a year ago when its estimated $800 million cost was disclosed.

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