OCEAN WIND WINS COST APPROVAL

RI energy commission approves wind farm agreement
Eric Tucker, August 11, 2010 (Bloomberg Businessweek)

"The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission…approved a power purchase agreement for a proposed wind farm off the coast of Block Island.

"The commission…approved the agreement between developer Deepwater Wind and National Grid PLC, the utility, after weighing factors including economic and environmental benefits and whether the terms of the deal were reasonable for taxpayers."

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"The agreement involves an eight-turbine wind farm planned off Block Island's coast. It calls for National Grid to buy the energy generated from the wind farm at 24.4 cents per kilowatt hour.

"The PUC…had rejected a similar agreement in March as too costly to taxpayers. The rejection led to new legislation from the General Assembly aimed at speeding the regulatory approval process."