Ed. Note: The government-enabled on-grid wind and solar industries are on the downside of a political business cycle. The lesson for sustainable entrepreneurship is to meet underlying consumer demand, not rely on special favor from temporary political majorities.
Last Friday, the Daily Caller News Foundation broke an exclusive story that the U.S. had ordered a halt to construction on the offshore Revolution Wind Farm project. The article, “Trump Admin Kills Massive Offshore Wind Project,” announced the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (Department of Interior.
Revolution Wind is a 704-megawatt (MW), 65-turbine wind project located 15 miles south of Rhode Island’s Point Judith port and 32 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard. The capacity has been contracted under 20-year power-purchase agreements to utilities in Massachusetts (304 MW) and Rhode Island (400 MW).…
“Every statement pushing back on Interior Secretary Burgum’s directive would equally apply to the Keystone XL pipeline situation. However, since Keystone involved crude oil, it was not entitled to the rights that green energy demands. Yet, the current critics quickly point out that the U.S. needs all forms of energy.”
On April 16, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to order Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor (formerly Statoil) to cease all construction activities related to its offshore wind project, Empire Wind 1. The announcement came when Equinor notified BOEM to begin construction activities.
The initial work included dumping the first load of rocks on the ocean floor to protect the wind turbine foundations. The work was scheduled to start in late April, with foundation pile-driving to follow.…
“Electricity bills in New England are poised to experience a sharp increase driven by the clean energy mandates in five of the six states, which require duplicative, overbuilt renewable energy.”
Connecticut ratepayers suffered sticker shock this summer when they opened their July electric bills. While their energy consumption was relatively flat, the “public benefits” component doubled for some and tripled for others. The culprit was not hard to find given a legislative requirement for utilities to itemize the cost components of monthly bills.
“Public benefits” cover the cost of subsidies the state provides for low-income electricity customers and energy-efficiency programs. They also include solar, electric vehicle, and other renewable energy incentives.
The wide array of renewable energy subsidies and aid to low-income residents who cannot afford high-cost electricity, growing everywhere, is an increasing cost burden for power users in the Northeast.…