Cape Wind gets green light to sell power from offshore wind farm

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities gave the go-ahead this week for the controversial Cape Wind offshore wind farm to sell electricity to National Grid Plc. But the decision has far from silenced critics of the project who say power generated from the wind farm will be far too expensive, according to a Bloomberg news article. London-based National Grid provides power for more than three million customers in the northeastern U.S. Regulators agreed to allow National Grid to buy half of Cape Wind's anticipated 468 megawatts of power at a rate about three times the average wholesale price of electricity in the area. The farm is to be located five miles off mainland Cape Cod and as many as 130 wind turbines will be spread over 25 square miles. It's expected to provide power for about 200,000 homes. Notable opponents to Cape Wind included the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. He and others argued that the wind farm would spoil the ocean view from Cape Cod. Robert F. Kennedy, an environmentalist, has described Cape Wind as a "boondoggle" that, in addition to costing taxpayers billions, could damage the local fishing industry. The Interior Department approved the project in April and formally signed the lease early last month.

Quick Take: Despite regulatory approval, it doesn't look like Cape Wind is in the clear . The project is expected to cost almost $2.5 billion, which is more than twice what we were hearing earlier on — and that price tag doesn't include the cost of transmission lines to deliver the power. Also, a Bloomberg analyst said that because of time limitations it will be hard for Cape Wind to take advantage of a federal Treasury grant program to help offset costs, which might cause some investors to look elsewhere.

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