Offshore Wind Wire

Still reeling from the death of founder and leader Matthew Simmons, staff and board members at the Ocean Energy Institute are debating the organization’s mission and path forward, the Portland Press Herald reported Sunday.

The Maine-based Institute could continue as a non profit research group, join with another organization or pursue a private, for-profit path in the offshore energy arena, according to the Press Herald.

“Those are all things that are part of Matt’s vision, and we are working on that,” Allen Fernald, the secretary of the Institute’s board, was quoted as saying.

The board of directors is expected to develop a plan in time for the next meeting of the Institute’s advisory board — which is scheduled for September 20.

Cape Wind Hearings Begin in Boston

Twelve days of hearings on the Cape Wind power purchase agreement were scheduled to begin Tuesday at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, the Boston Herald reported yesterday.

The hearings will focus on the cost of electricity generated by the proposed 130-turbine wind farm.  National Grid has agreed to pay 18.7 cents per kilowatt hour for that electricity in the first year of operations, with a 3.5 percent annual escalation.

“There so much animosity,” said Timothy Shevlin, the executive director of the Department of Public Utilities.  “So it’s not really routine.”