Cape Wind Marks New Chapter in American Energy: Clean, Homegrown Offshore Power

Today, United States Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar jumpstarted the American offshore wind industry by announcing federal approval of the Cape Wind Energy project in Massachusetts’ Nantucket Sound.

This announcement marks the approval of the first utility-scale offshore wind project in the United States to go through the federal review and approval process.  Approving Cape Wind demonstrates America’s commitment to renewable energy and allows our country to be competitive globally on offshore wind – joining the likes of Europe and China. Today is historic and symbolizes the beginning of a new chapter in our nation’s energy policy: clean, homegrown offshore wind power.

This process comes after a nearly decade-long project approval process, much longer than a traditional coal power plant is typically reviewed. It never should have taken this long, but as a first-of-its-kind, it is important that we got it right – harnessing wind power while protecting the surrounding sensitive ocean resources.

Fortunately, the long Cape Wind review process paves the way for the others that will come after it – helping to get them up and running more quickly. Their experience will inform the regulatory approval process for other offshore wind developers.  As Secretary Salazar said today – nine years simply cannot remain standard practice in deploying offshore wind here in America.

Much of the delay was related to deciding where to put (or site) the turbines – also known as “siting” the project. Siting any energy project is difficult. Historic battles rooted in the principles of NIMBY plague this process.  Striking the balance between siting where the resources are rich and the environmental benefits outweigh the impacts will involve continued collaborative efforts on behalf of industry, government and environmental organizations. The federal government is reviewing how to expedite the offshore wind approval process. NRDC and others are working to streamline the process while still protecting the surrounding environment.

Another challenge for Cape Wind was the fact that so many government agencies (at least a handful) were involved in the approval process and it was often unclear who all the regulatory players were, and what role they played. As you can imagine, this can add to the confusion for developers and even stakeholder groups like our own, and makes the process more time consuming. As we ramp up the offshore wind industry, creating more regulatory clarity can improve this process and cut through confusion. It is important that the role of each federal agency with authority in the process is able to perform their duties in cooperation with one another. It is equally critical that these roles are clear and transparent so that stakeholders can engage in an informed and meaningful manner.

Cape Wind has truly endured. Their experience is a testament to how the regulatory framework for offshore wind in the United States has been shaped with the help of industry, government at all levels and environmental organizations.  Their collaborative approach can be attributed to their success. Although this decision was a decade in the making, it is only the beginning.

Offshore wind provides long term price stability, in contrast to the volatility of fossil fuel costs that every American knows all too well. Because the fuel that offshore wind farms rely on, the wind, is essentially free, these long term prices are more stable and cost-effective in the long term.

Despite future hurdles, the potential for offshore wind energy in the United States is enormous. This potential was acknowledged today.  Approximately 12, 086 NRDC members spoke out in support of Cape Wind in recent weeks. They believe in this potential.  Offshore wind energy potential in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes alone are capable of providing 900,000 MW of renewable electricity.  To put this in perspective, this is the same amount America’s electric power plants currently have the ability to provide to our homes and businesses.  This is roughly equal to what our nation currently has installed in electric generation capacity.

Last week, on the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, the world watched as an oil rig caught fire, sank and began spilling oil off coastline of Louisiana.  Today, we got a glimpse of a cleaner, safer energy future off our shores – renewable wind power that can’t spill or run out.