Offshore Wind Wire

Several months after getting rejected by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, National Grid filed a new power purchase agreement last week to buy electricity from the proposed Deepwater Wind project near Block Island.

The new agreement, however, is essentially the same as the deal rejected earlier this year by the PUC for being too expensive, according to the Block Island Times.  The Rhode Island legislature passed a law earlier this year effectively ordering the commission to reconsider the power purchase agreement.

The newspaper says the difference is that “any savings in the project would go to the ratepayers of Rhode Island, not to the developer” and an independent third party will “act as a verification agent to confirm the project’s costs.”

Paul Rich, chief development officer for Deepwater, is quoted saying the company has agreed to “unprecedented concessions to make this affordable.”

Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch and the Conservation Law Foundation both protested the legislatively mandated second hearing for the Deepwater Contract, according to the Providence Business News.

“Deepwater had its chance to prove to an impartial panel, the PUC, that this deal had any merit for Rhode Islanders, and Deepwater couldn’t do it,” Lynch was quoted as saying. “They had an appeal process by which they could have asked our Supreme Court to help them, and they didn’t even try to use it. It is wrong for legislation to ‘overrule’ a final judicial decision.”

Delaware Project Delayed By Federal Permitting

The NRG-Bluewater offshore wind project off Delaware is having trouble getting federal approval for its met tower, according to the Wilmington News-Journal.  The permit snags relates to emissions associated with building the met tower.

The delay could potentially lead to construction delays as well, the newspaper said.

NSTAR Passes On Cape Wind Electricity

The NSTAR utility company is not yet planning to buy electricity from the Cape Wind offshore wind farm, according to the Boston Globe.

The company sent proposed contracts to Massachusetts regulators for three land-based wind farms but not with Cape Wind, despite meeting with the offshore developer last month.