Mass. governor unveils big push for wind power
Wind turbines would increasingly dot the Massachusetts landscape under a plan unveiled by Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday to ramp up the state’s reliance on wind power over the next dozen years.
Patrick said he wants the state to be producing 2,000 megawatts of wind electricity annually by 2020, enough to power 800,000 homes — or about 10 percent of the state’s current energy needs.
The state has just nine major wind turbines now, producing less than seven megawatts of power annually.
There are another 300 turbines in various planning and permitting stages, including the proposal by Cape Wind Associates to build 130 windmills across 25 miles of federal waters in Nantucket Sound — enough to generate an estimated 420 megawatts of power.
Patrick pointed to recent successes in helping jump-start the state’s solar power industry, including the popularity of a state rebate program designed to encourage homeowners to install solar panels on their homes
“Now is the time to turn to wind power,” Patrick said.
Patrick pointed to what he called “the abundant wind resource we have off our coast” and said local communities are increasingly interested in building their own turbines to ease energy costs.
He also said that increasing reliance on wind power will lure businesses and jobs to the state and help make Massachusetts a leader in clean energy technology. The state has already been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for one of two wind turbine testing centers.
But wind power has come under fire from those who say the long, spindly-armed turbines mar the landscape and can harm migrating birds.
Critics of the Cape Wind project, including Sen. Edward Kennedy, have battled for years to try to block the project, in part by saying its location in Nantucket Sound will ruin views off of Cape Cod.
But supporters say that wind turbines are inevitable as the state — and country — weans itself off carbon-emitting fossil fuels.
“If you look at the environmental impact of coal-fired power plants and think about all the kids who have asthma and the trade-off of getting accustomed to a new landscape for clean energy, the vast majority of Massachusetts residents are ready for that,” said Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles.
Bowles said that wind turbines only make sense where there is a lot of wind — on top of hills, along ridge lines, or near the shore. To reach Patrick’s goal of 2,000 megawatts, he said, would require between 1,000 and 3,000 turbines, depending on their size.
“The reality is that three-quarters of Massachusetts is never going to be appropriate for wind development,” he said.
To give the industry a boost, lawmakers included in the state’s new Green Communities Act a mandate that energy companies in Massachusetts buy an increasing percentage of their power from renewable sources, such as wind, solar and biofuels.
It also requires energy companies enter into long-term contracts with green energy companies, making it easier for those companies to get the business loans they need to grow.
Like solar power, wind appears to be taking off. About 50 cities and towns have expressed interest in installing turbines. Falmouth is already building two.
Other proposed projects in the “wind pipeline,” include:
• Patriot Wind, Buzzards Bay (120 turbines; 300 megawatts)
• Hoosac Wind, Monroe (20 turbines; 30 megawatts)
• Berkshire Wind, Hancock (10 turbines; 15 megawatts)
• Bog Wind, Wareham (9 turbines; 15 megawatts)
• Minuteman Wind, Savoy (5 turbines; 12.5 megawatts)
• Hull Offshore (4 turbines; 12 megawatts)
If all the projects are eventually built, they would produce 800 megawatts of power, more than a third of the 2,000 megawatt total proposed by Patrick.
Patrick said the goal is reasonable. He said the state is already making progress on a goal to produce 250 megawatts of solar power in Massachusetts by 2017, up from 4 megawatts when he took office.
Massachusetts has already added 4.6 megawatts to its solar energy capacity in the past year by offering homeowners and businesses rebates through the state’s Commonwealth Solar program.
By Steve LeBlanc
The Associated Press
13 January 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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