Not in the Kennedy's Backyard?

From Bloomberg - Cape Wind may become the first U.S. offshore wind farm after Massachusetts regulators approved a contract permitting it to sell electricity, overcoming critics including the Kennedy family and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities posted the decision on its website today. The state’s governor, Deval Patrick, supported the project as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy production. The contract with utility National Grid Plc may pave the way for an additional 6,300 megawatts in various stages of development, said Charlie Hodges, an offshore wind analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London.

The U.S. generates more power from wind than any country, all of which is based on land. “This is a significant win for Cape Wind and may help build momentum for other offshore wind projects,” Hodges said before the announcement. Massachusetts agreed to let National Grid Plc, a London- based company that delivers power to about 3.3 million customers in the U.S. Northeast, buy half of Cape Wind’s output for 18.7 cents per kilowatt-hour. That price will increase 3.5 percent annually for the 15 years of the contract. That rate is more than three times the average wholesale power price in the region of $55.02 a megawatt-hour, or 5.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, over the past year. Read full story here:

Not in the Kennedy's Backyard?