May 10, 2010: Cape Wind roundup

Are you following the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound as it moves forward? Cape Wind is on track to be the nation's groundbreaking (oceanbreaking?) first offshore wind farm. Here's a quick scorecard of some key figures:

$1,000,000,000.00: yes, one billion dollars. That's how much the project is projected to cost.
130 turbines: projected to generate a maximum electric output of 468 MW and an average of 182 MW
25 square miles: the footprint of the project in Nantucket Sound
400 feet: the approximate height of each tower
9 years: how long the project has been studied -- and debated
700,000 tons: estimated annual reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by displacing fossil-fueled units

And a few numbers for consumers to focus on:
20.7 cents: the initial price per kWh, rising 3.5% a year for the 15-year life of the contract
$1.59: the monthly increase in the average residential customer’s monthly bill

Here are good New York Times and Boston Globe stories on the path forward for the project. As I reported last week, the next step is winning approval from the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. I have practiced before the DPU, and am confident that the Department will thoroughly evaluate whether the proposed contract meets the statutory standards and is in the public interest.