Energy
File this — from a story concerning legal challenges to the deal that Rhode Island has constructed for Deepwater Wind and National Grid — under “I’ll bet”: “It was really impressive the range of support it had,” said Jerry Elmer, staff attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation, who lobbied in favor of the law. “I…
The latest development in the proposed Deepwater Wind farm confirms yet again that wind power is a complete non-starter. Deepwater Wind has offered to sell power to Long Island from a 200-turbine offshore wind farm proposed in Rhode Island Sound at a price far cheaper than what the company would charge Rhode Islanders for electricity…
Strap in; it’s a roller coaster ride. High gasoline and oil prices are bad. Obama, speaking at a San Francisco event for donors, called rising gasoline prices an economic drain on drivers and said curbing oil reliance is a “national security imperative.” High gasoline and oil prices (if they are gradual) are good. I think…
The Rhode Island supreme court decided that Toray Plastics and Polytop Corp. have standing (decision here) to challenge the Public Utility Commission’s approval for Deepwater Wind to build a wind farm off of Block Island. Michael McElroy, lawyer for the companies, explains (in the dead-tree version of this morning’s ProJo) why this is important: We’re…
Let’s go back a month. Rising world energy prices, spurred by demand from India and China, will make wind energy off Rhode Island’s shores a viable economic option, Governor Chafee told a group of Washington County town planners and officials Thursday night. Fast forward to today’s ProJo. On Thursday, the state Public Utilities Commission unanimously…
Why are oil jobs created in Brazil desireable but those created in the US abhorrent? Why should oil profits benefit another country and not the US? Completely bewildering. WHEN WAS the last time an American president stood before an audience in a foreign country and announced that he looked forward to importing more of its…
Kudos to WPRI’s Tim White and Ted Nesi for obtaining and releasing (against the will of National Grid) the cost to Rhode Island state and local government of the artificially jacked electric rates necessitated by the first phase (the experimental stage) of the Deepwater wind farm. Keep in mind that this is the ADDITIONAL cost…
Speaking of the suspicious structure of the “new economy”… the economics of wind have come under some scrutiny, lately. Specifically, the project being questioned is Portsmouth’s windmill: Because the setup was considered net metering under state law, National Grid never negotiated a power purchase agreement with Portsmouth. An agreement would have been reviewed by the…
Al Gore has let the cat out of the bag. On Wednesday, addressing a green energy business conference in Greece (undoubtedly, a non-greenhouse gas emitting tall ship carried the advocate of AGW there from the US), the former VP admitted that the net energy produced from corn grown for ethanol is at best very small…
An article about Massachusetts’ race for a wind energy boom conveys the folly of Rhode Island’s own quest: Massachusetts could soon be home to the nation’s first offshore wind farm — and state officials are hoping to use the Cape Wind project to help fuel a small but burgeoning local wind-power energy boom. There are…