By Peter Brennan
A leading economic consulting firm claims that Cape Wind, the proposed wind farm on Cape Cod’s Horseshoe Shoal, will reduce wholesale electric prices for the New England region by $4.6 Billion over 25 years.
The report, published today by Boston-based Charles River Associates, found that Cape Wind will place downward pressure on the wholesale clearing price of electricity by reducing operations of higher priced and polluting fossil fueled units. This, in turn, will result in average savings of $185 million per year in New England, according to the report.
“This report makes it very clear, Cape Wind will provide good long term value to electric consumers,” said Cape Wind President Jim Gordon. “By reducing operations of higher priced fossil fuel units, Cape Wind will reduce regional electric prices, reduce pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions while increasing our energy independence,” Gordon added.
The Charles River Associates report is entitled, ‘Analysis of the Impact of Cape Wind on New England Energy Prices’, and was commissioned by Cape Wind.
The project will also create 600-1,000 clean energy construction jobs and 50 permanent jobs as it becomes America’s first offshore wind farm, Cape Wind announced in a press release touting the release of the report.
Among Cape Wind’s strongest opponents are the Mashpee and Aquinnah Wampanoag nations – the state’s two federally acknowledged tribes – to whom Nantucket Sound, where the turbines will be located, is sacred ground.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who visited the site of the proposed project earlier this month, is expected to make a final ruling if there is not agreement in place between the two sides by March 1.
10. February 2010 at 7:50 pm
WHO WOULD ACTUALLY BELIEVE THIS PAID ADVERTISEMENT?
This paid for ENRON style “study” fails to address the 70 to 80 million dollars a year in tax and rate payer subsidies. It ignores the additional fuel costs to the airports and shipping lines that will have to avoid this 24 square mile wind plant. And it completely ignores the additional cost of the backup power for this inconsistent source of electricity. All you have to do is read the disclaimer and then look at who paid for it.
It talks about 50 permanent jobs yet ignores the loss of the thousands of tourism based jobs reported in the Beacon Hill Report. This advertisement is nothing more than a paid for propaganda piece that ignores the true cost of this wind plant and the damage it will cause to the valuable Cape and Islands tourist based economy, the Wampanoag Ritual grounds, the closing of the fishing grounds and the hazards to navigation as confirmed by the issuance of a “Determination of Hazard” by the FAA.
This wind plant will put over 400 local fishermen out of business, who cares about 50 jobs?
This report also ignores the recent real life pricing contract with National Grid for the Rhode Island wind plant at 29 cents a KW. Where is the downward pressure on those rates? This report is a knee jerk reaction to the recent UMASS poll which showed that the majority of people are not willing to pay more for renewable energy. In other words, we are not buying it and we are not falling for this paid advertisement either.
It is time for Cape Wind to stop giving the wind industry a black eye.