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A mighty costly wind
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Robert Sullivan’s review of “Cape Wind” (June 17), about the battle over the development of a wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod, made me wonder why a majority of Cape Cod and island residents would oppose a project that promised them clean, cheap, non polluting renewable energy at a time when everyone is focused on making America energy independent.
You can start with the fact that this project won’t deliver lowercost energy because offshore wind is by far the most expensive form of energy.
You can then wonder what all the fuss is about when you understand that at its optimum operating efficiency (an average of 170 megawatts, according to Cape Wind’s own Web site, and not the 468 megawatts its proponents claim) it would produce just 1 percent of New England’s electricity supply. And because wind energy is inherently unpredictable (it depends on when the wind is blowing and cannot be stored), fossil fuel plants would always have to be online as reserve power to keep our lights on.
Concluding his review, Sullivan mentions the growing opposition to a wind farm proposal off the coast of Long Island. This opposition is bolstered by the economic facts of the project – according to previously confidential documents obtained by Newsday, energy from the proposed wind plant would cost Long Island ratepayers as much as double the wholesale cost of energy.
NICHOLAS G. BOULUKOS
New York
8 July 2007
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