BARNSTABLE, Mass. — August 10, 2012 — Philip Scudder said his ferry company here was once a vocal opponent of the alternative-energy proposal that blew into Cape Cod nearly a decade ago. The U.S.'s first offshore wind farm? In the middle of pristine Nantucket Sound? He wondered how his boats carrying vacationers bound for Martha's Vineyard would navigate around the turbines.
But now, Mr. Scudder, a 13th generation Cape Codder and part of the family that owns Hy-Line Cruises, supports Cape Wind, the proposal to place 130 wind turbines, with the highest blade tip reaching 440 feet above water, some five miles offshore. He says it would bring not only clean energy but economic opportunity: Hy-Line is now shopping for vessels to eventually give "eco-tours," educational boat rides out to see the turbines up close.
Mr. Scudder illustrates the conflicting views on the long-debated project in an area known as the jewel of Massachusetts and a vacation land for the affluent. After a decade, Cape Wind developer Energy Management Inc. is beginning geological survey work in the sound, a precursor to its goal of starting construction next year.
But whether the wind farm is built remains to be seen. Cape Wind has yet to receive all the approvals it needs to start construction. Opposition is firm and has included wealthy Cape Cod homeowners from the late Sen. Edward Kennedy to Republican donor and energy businessman William Koch.
The Obama administration is pushing for more renewable-energy projects, both on and offshore. This week, the Interior Department said it was assessing a proposal by the North American arm of Statoil ASA, a Norwegian energy company, for a wind farm off the coast of Maine.
The Interior Department approved Cape Wind in 2010. The project calls for the off-white wind turbines in a 25-square-mile area in a shallow part of the sound, a triangular body of water surrounded by Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. The closest vantage point would be nearly five miles away in Mashpee, next to Barnstable.
The turbines are "majestic and beautiful," and on a clear day would appear "like a half-inch sailing mast on the horizon," said Jim Gordon, the president of Energy Management, Cape Wind's developer.
Opponents are skeptical.
"I'm just not buying it," says Barnstable Town Manager Thomas Lynch, who worries about public-safety costs to the town if there were a problem at the wind farm.
The project is estimated to cost $2 billion. Energy Management said it has spent $50 million developing it and is working with Barclays PLC to secure private funding. The wind farm is expected to produce as much as 468 megawatts of renewable energy, which is about 3.5% of the 13,300-megawatts total generating capacity in Massachusetts.
Cape Wind has signed long-term contracts to sell 78% of its power to the state's largest utilities.
The wind power's cost is as much as twice that of conventional power, but because it would be a small portion of the overall energy pool, consumers would see at most a 2.2% increase to their monthly bills, according to estimates in a 2010 report by Massachusetts regulators.
Cape Wind has yet to clear one major regulatory hurdle: the Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the project after opponents appealed its initial approval in 2010. The FAA must determine whether the wind farm would pose a risk to aircraft radar.
The project also faces headwinds from a decline in the price of natural gas, which undermining the case for renewable energy—though it isn't clear how long the dip will last.
Read the full story in the Wall Street Journal