A survey in Rhode Island shows that 89% have positive opinions on the use of wind turbines to generate electricity, but 50% rate the cost of wind as an important issue and 44% say noise is an important consideration. The state Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the town of Narragansett surveyed local residents on the possible installation of three to 6 wind turbines on state or town properties in the area. The town is located on the Atlantic Ocean, near Nantucket.

One issue disputed by Deepwater Wind and National Grid in their negotiations over a power purchase agreement has been resolved by an amendment to a state renewable energy law. Both chambers of the General Assembly approved new language in the law late Thursday night. The change will allow Deepwater to install up to eight 3.6-megawatt turbines off the coast of Block Island rather than the six machines that National Grid argued was the maximum number allowed under the original version of the law.

Six local environmental groups have voiced concerns about a plan to construct a wind turbine at Black Point, a coastal site in Narragansett that is protected for public use. The organizations last week sent a letter to Gov. Donald Carcieri '65, questioning the site's suitability. According to a press release from the letter's signatories, then-Gov. Edward DiPrete protected Black Point in 1987 to "prevent a condominium development on important land with recognized rights of public access to the shore."

After the long session on the deer hunting Wednesday, the Town Council voted to formally become intervenors in the Public Utilities Commission hearing regarding the power purchase agreement between Deepwater Wind and National Grid. The council agreed to hire Alan Mandl to assist Town Solicitor Katherine Merolla as well as consultant Richard La Capra. First Warden Kim Gaffett acknowledged that it would be "an expensive process," but that the town would seek reimbursement from Deepwater, which promised to cover the town's consultant bills, regardless of what position the town takes. Becoming an intervenor "gives us a voice at the hearing," said Gaffett, and allows the town to gather information.

In the wake of last week's National Grid filing with the state Public Utilities Commission, Deepwater Wind executives are hoping for more time at the bargaining table. Last Thursday National Grid recommended the PUC to turn down a power purchase agreement (PPA) proposed by Deepwater for an eight-turbine wind farm within three miles of Block Island. According to National Grid, Deepwater was asking 30.7 cents per kilowatt-hour for its electricity, when the average cost for wholesale electricity is about 9 cents. It called the proposal "commercially unreasonable."

The town Electric Utility Task Group met Friday, the day after National Grid rejected Deepwater Wind's proposed power contract, which it called "uneconomic by a significant margin for Rhode Island customers." While the fate of Deepwater's proposed eight-turbine "Block Island Farm" remains in limbo, Block Island Power Company President Cliff McGinnes Sr. told the group that he saw an opening for the town in National Grid's suggestion that a cable to the mainland was still possible without a wind farm. McGinnes urged the town to seize the opportunity.

National Grid is willing to resume negotiations with Deepwater Wind over a power-purchase agreement if certain conditions are met first, according to a letter from the utility to the offshore wind farm developer. The primary stipulation is that Deepwater must commit to a price that increases at a consistent annual rate and is not subject to other variables, such as potential delays or other complications that could raise the cost of the developer's plan to install up to eight turbines off Block Island.

National Grid is willing to return to the negotiating table with offshore wind farm developer Deepwater Wind, the state's largest utility said in a filing with the R.I. Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The Wednesday filing, actually a copy of a letter sent to Deepwater, came six days after National Grid rejected the developer's renewable energy contract offer, saying that electricity from Deepwater's proposed offshore wind farm would be too expensive.

Save The Bay, the leading environmental organization in Rhode Island, is opposing a plan to erect a wind turbine at Black Point, a coastal property in Narragansett that was preserved two decades ago using state open-space bonds. The Providence-based organization joined Tuesday with five other environmental advocacy groups - all supporters of green energy - to send a letter to Governor Carcieri that raises questions about the project. The plans being developed by the state Department of Environmental Management and the Town of Narragansett include the installation of up to six large wind turbines at various sites in the town.

The Planning Board this week revisited the issue of a public utility zone at the transfer station, which would make it possible for the town to install a municipal wind turbine there. After much discussion Wednesday night, it became apparent that at least half of the six-member board had second thoughts about the original proposal. The controversial proposal met with much public outcry at a public hearing October 5.

The main point of contention in the contract talks between National Grid and Deepwater Wind is the price of electricity generated by the proposed wind farm off Block Island. Deepwater has quoted a price of between 20 and 25 cents per kilowatt-hour. National Grid has calculated the cost, with adjustments over time, to be closer to 30.7 cents per kilowatt hour. Either price is much higher than the 9.2 cents per kilowatt-hour that National Grid pays for power mainly from natural gas plants. So far, the utility has refused to pay the higher cost for wind energy, saying it's simply too much.

National Grid late Thursday rejected Deepwater Wind LLC's initial proposal to supply electricity from a planned wind farm off Block Island, throwing a monkey wrench into the Carcieri administration's efforts to boost renewable energy in Rhode Island. Both the governor and the R.I. Economic Development Corporation (EDC) have urged the Grid and Deepwater to keep talking.

A storm is gathering over the ocean. Thursday, more than 200 people attended a public hearing in Providence on ocean policy. Almost all who testified praised the interim report of the President Barack Obama's Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, but their recommendations for regulation of the United States coastline varied widely. ...Perhaps the interim report's most far-reaching recommendation is for an "ecosystem based approach." Martha's Vineyard selectman Warren Doty noted that approach was not in evidence at a recent meeting of the National Marine Fisheries Council.

Rhode Island's congressional delegation met with Governor Carcieri and other officials on Friday for a briefing on the progress of two wind farms being proposed in state coastal waters. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed and Representatives Patrick J. Kennedy and James R. Langevin were at the closed-door meeting at the State House to discuss regulatory issues surrounding the proposals.

Would the capacity of a proposed electricity cable from Block Island to the mainland allow for more than the eight wind turbines currently planned by developer Deepwater Wind? Block Island Power Company President Cliff McGinnes Sr. revealed at Monday's Electric Utility Task Group meeting that the proposed size of the cable to the mainland is 69 kVa (kilovolt-amperes), which surprised task group members and newly hired consultant Richard La Capra. That capacity "seems awfully high," said La Capra.

Byron was on hand to explain the abbey's decision to install a wind turbine at the school three years ago and the financial benefits the school has enjoyed since. But the rosy picture he painted, and whether it could translate to Block Island, was challenged by many transfer station neighbors in the Town Hall over three hours that night.

Blue H USA, a Dutch-owned company that wants to anchor floating wind turbines some 20 miles southwest of Martha's Vineyard to harness offshore ocean winds, has applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps. The company wants to anchor a demonstration unit on the outer continental shelf approximately 23 miles off Squibnocket Point in Chilmark and about 32 miles southeast of Block Island, R.I. according to the Army Corps.

Three ocean-going research and survey vessels will be plying Rhode Island’s coastal waters this month to collect data for the unprecedented ocean-mapping effort that is paving the way for the proposed $1.5-billion wind turbine farm that Governor Carcieri wants to develop south of Block Island. ...The first two vessels are already at work, and the Endeavor is scheduled for two five-day cruises later this month, according to Grover Fugate, executive director of the Coastal Resources Management Council. The CRMC is halfway into a two-year effort to survey and map the state’s coastal waters so it can determine the best place to locate the wind farm.

Council is poised to hire Richard La Capra of La Capra Associates to serve as consultant regarding Deepwater Wind's proposed wind farm installations near Block Island and its potential effects on island electricity ratepayers. The council will take a formal vote on a contract at its Tuesday meeting, First Warden Kim Gaffett said Wednedsay. La Capra's scope of service will also be outlined at that meeting.