Cape Wind at a reduced rate

Cape Wind and the state of Massachusetts have made an initial agreement to reduce the rates of the electricity that the project will supply in the first years of deployment. The agreement, reached by proponents of Cape Wind and Massachusetts' attorney general, means the initial price of electricity in the first year will be reduced from 20.7 cents to 18.7 cents, with an annual increase of 3.5 percent each year.

Cape Wind, as mentioned in an earlier blog post, was approved as the first offshore wind project to be built in the United States earlier this year. The project, as with most large construction projects of its scale, was met with opposition from many different critics, including environmentalists. Nonetheless, the Cape Wind project will be built and eventually will supply Massachusetts with power from wind energy harnessed at the large wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

This agreement is expected to ease the tension over the Cape Wind project but making electricity prices affordable for ratepayers. However, increases are to be expected. Cape Wind proponents argue that the increase is not the same level as fossil fuel price increases. Cape Wind proponents expect the project to help achieve the 3 percent renewable energy requirement for the state of Massachusetts.

Full story at Ecoseed