A company that wants to build a floating wind farm off the coast of Martha's Vineyard has received a boost from the state's congressional delegation. In a letter dated June 26, the entire Massachusetts delegation asked the U.S. Minerals Management Service to review an application by Blue H USA LLC for a lease to test floating platform technology and collect data at the site for the proposed wind farm. The company announced the congressional support for its application at its U.S. headquarters in Boston yesterday.

Wind farms are springing up in Midwestern fields, along Appalachian ridgelines, and even in Texas backyards. They're everywhere, it seems, except in the windy coastal waters that lap at some of America's largest, most power-hungry cities. That's partly because the first large-scale effort to harness sea breezes in the U.S. hit resistance from an army led by the rich and famous, waging a not-on-my-beach campaign. For almost eight years the critics have stalled the project, called Cape Wind, which aims to place 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound about five miles south of Cape Cod.

Massachusetts' first major energy bill in a decade has hit a snag over a provision that would require utilities to secure part of their power from gasified coal-fired plants, groups on both sides of the debate said Monday. Environmentalists and industry advocates are at odds over an alternative portfolio standard, a requirement that works much like a renewable portfolio standard. But in this case, the utilities are required to purchase a set amount of power from gasified coal-fired generation, combined heat and power and other alternatives. ...Angela O'Connor, president of the New England Power Generators Association, said that environmental groups need a "reality check" when it comes to portfolio planning in New England.

A local company has lost out on part of a $45 million project in the Midwest because federal tax incentives for renewable energy sources - an integral part of the economics of all renewable energy projects - are set to expire on Dec. 31. Roughly $200 million invested in two Pittsfield projects that would produce up to 50 megawatts of energy and 50 million gallons of biodiesel is also likely to be affected. Two wind turbine projects in North County that would collectively produce nearly 38 megawatts of energy could also face significant funding obstacles. ...If the extension fails, Fairbank, of EOS, said, on Jan. 1, "the industry just takes a massive blow because you just can't make the economics of these projects work without incentives."

Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law Wednesday a measure that will establish the nation's first management and protection plan for a state's ocean waters. The law sets ground rules for all offshore projects and businesses, including energy ventures and conservation areas that lie in state waters. The state controls all water within three miles of the coast, about 1.6 million acres of water. ...The law comes as numerous projects are being proposed for the waters off Massachusetts. They include liquid natural gas terminals, wind farms, and sand and gravel mining operations. Currently, the state approves projects case by case. The law acts much like zoning, laying out what can be built where.

In Berkshire County, where three paper mills have closed and a water bottling company has balked on plans for a new facility all because of the high cost of power, small and medium-size businesses are reeling. Local economic development officials are seeing the hills that they must climb to attract new businesses — and retain existing ones — grow ever steeper as Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO) continues to increase its commercial rates for power. This is the setting that U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry chose for a field hearing of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, during which local business leaders will testify on the cost of energy and the effect it is having on their ability to make a profit and maintain employment levels.

Gov. Deval Patrick is expected to give quick approval to a first-in-the-nation ocean management act that would decide how and where projects such as wind turbines and LNG terminals could be built in state waters. The legislation would also open up most of the state's ocean sanctuaries to renewable energy development, including Boston developer Jay Cashman's proposal for a wind farm in Buzzards Bay. The renewable energy projects would have to comply with the terms of the ocean management plan, to be written by Dec. 31, 2009, and approved by the state secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

Supporters and opponents of the Town Hall wind turbine have each been given new ammunition in their fight over whether to build a town-financed turbine. Data from a test tower built by Lees Market on the west side of Main Road shows better energy potential than first expected, but a report on small wind turbines says energy production estimates are often too optimistic. The Board of Selectmen received both reports last week when it met to vote on a contract to build a 120-foot turbine behind Town Hall. No vote was taken on the contract, and the board will resume discussions tonight.

A landmark bill designed to better manage everything from wind farms to whale watching in the coastal waters off Massachusetts is making its way through the Statehouse and could emerge from a key legislative committee as soon as this week. ...A single, compromise version of the bill is expected to be released this week. ...Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth said the bill is needed as the ocean waters are increasingly coming under pressure. "Our ocean is the last great stretch that has not yet been developed," Murray said when the Senate approved their version of the bill. "We have well-established laws for planning how we use our land, but nothing for our ocean."

The state would open up ocean sanctuaries to renewable energy development under a legislative agreement that could allow a controversial wind farm in Buzzards Bay to be built under certain conditions. ...Under current law, development can only take place in the state's ocean sanctuaries if it is deemed a "public necessity." The five protected sanctuaries are on the North Shore, Cape Cod Bay, the southern Cape and islands and Buzzards Bay. The new law would allow renewable energy projects, but they would be subject to an ocean management plan to be drawn up by a special commission by Dec. 31, 2009, according to people familiar with the agreement. The commission will decide the specific regulations, including allowable distance from shore, scale and type of technology, community benefits and environmental impact.

Just months after House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi killed a bill that was designed to block a controversial liquefied natural gas project from being built on 73 acres in Fall River, the landowner, Jay Cashman, sold the property to the terminal developers and made a $14.2 million profit, according to a Globe review of real estate and legislative records. ...DiMasi said he sought to open up Buzzards Bay to wind farm development because he strongly supports alternative energy, not because Cashman was interested in developing the site. "We don't talk about those things. It was all policy-driven," DiMasi said. Cashman declined to be interviewed. His spokesman, George Regan, said Cashman did not discuss his financial interest in the LNG terminal in Fall River or in the wind farm in Buzzards Bay with the speaker.

A dispute over transmission lines for the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm landed in court this week. ...Barnstable officials filed a complaint in Barnstable Superior Court Wednesday claiming the Cape Cod Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over the transmission cables that would link the turbines to the shoreline. In October, the commission rejected a plan to have the transmission cables make landfall in Barnstable, and Cape Wind appealed that decision to the state Energy Facilities Siting Board. In the complaint filed Wednesday, Barnstable officials contend the state Energy Facilities Siting Board does not have the authority to review the commission's denial of the transmission lines.

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, who many on SouthCoast contend aided developer Jay Cashman's effort to sprinkle giant wind turbines across Buzzards Bay, went out on the water today to look at ground zero. Returning to land, he said he remains committed to strongly pushing for renewable energy alternatives, including wind turbine farms, as the state faces an energy crisis. ...Rep. [Rep. John F. Quinn, D-Dartmouth] said the wind turbines could have a potentially serious impact on quality of life for those living along the water as well as impacts on shipping and fishing. He said he invited Rep. DiMasi to view the location because it is highly visible from land and could potentially cause noise and other problems.

Edgartown and the Martha's Vineyard Commission have formally joined the fracas over the wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound. In a petition filed last week with the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board, the Edgartown selectmen declared, for the first time, their opposition to what they consider to be Cape Wind Associates' attempt to circumvent local permitting authorities. ... "In the event that (the siting board) concludes that it may circumvent and override the (Cape Cod Commission), the town advances that such a decision would undermine the authority of the (Martha's Vineyard Commission) and would be detrimental to the town's interests," the selectmen wrote in their petition to intervene. The Edgartown selectmen also raised concerns over the company's attempts to get around local permitting authorities in Yarmouth and Barnstable.

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has taken up Rep. John F. Quinn's offer of a boat tour of Buzzards Bay on Wednesday to get a firsthand look at the location of a proposed wind farm. Rep. Quinn, D-Dartmouth, and Speaker DiMasi have been at odds over House legislation that would open up Buzzards Bay and other ocean sanctuaries to large-scale renewable energy development. Rep. Quinn insists Buzzards Bay, with its busy shipping, fishing and recreational routes, is unsuitable for a wind farm for safety and environmental reasons.

With Bay State ocean-based wind energy projects languishing and demand for renewable energy climbing, a top energy official said Wednesday, April 2, that land-based wind development is both an opportunity and a challenge for Massachusetts. Swampscott has investigated the possibility of placing wind turbines in town, most recently through efforts of the Renewable Energy Committee. New England wind energy industry leaders said the land-based wind industry is robust and capable of producing 9,500 megawatts of wind power. Land-based community projects are on the rise in New England, despite stalled high-profile projects like Cape Wind, said industry officials.

Rep. John Quinn, a Democrat from Dartmouth, on Monday invited House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi on a boat tour of Buzzards Bay next month, in an apparent attempt to change DiMasi's mind about wind turbines in those waters. Quinn, who last month delivered perhaps the most restive floor speech of the DiMasi era, sent a letter to the speaker offering to take him around the bay to show the potential sites where Patriot Renewables, a Quincy-based affiliate of Jay Cashman Inc., plans to build wind turbines. South Coast legislators have objected to the quiet insertion of an amendment into the speaker's energy bill that would clear the way for a 120-turbine project developed by Jay Cashman, who is close friends with DiMasi.

According to several MMS officials outside of the auditorium, the pleas of the fishing community were stronger here than they had been in South Yarmouth or on Nantucket. Rodney Cluck, MMS project manager for the Cape Wind development, offered that this is precisely why they hold these meetings. "The DEIS does not take into account the community impact. You can sit in your office for two years working on the science but then you have to get out and listen to what the community has to say." When asked whether or not public opinion could ultimately play a roll in the Interior Department's decision, Mr. Cluck replied that all relevant information would be taken into consideration and that "local knowledge" will contribute to the report made to the Secretary. Supporters were few and far between.

State and regional regulators acknowledge the hurdles - especially in northern New Hampshire - but don't have ready solutions. A bill before the New Hampshire Senate would have the state be ready to act if no regional solution is forthcoming. ISO New England, which manages power for the region, is considering changing rules so more of the costs of transmission upgrades could be shared regionally. But as things stand now, backers of projects generally must pay for upgrades needed to connect them to the system. "None of this is a real speedy process," acknowledges Michael Harrington, senior regional policy adviser for the state Public Utilities Commission.

With a major wind farm in the works for Nantucket Sound, and as the town looks into ocean-based sites off Tuckernuck and elsewhere near the island, the Energy Study Committee is taking more of a landlubber's approach to wind power. The committee has submitted an application to the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to have a "Municipal Wind Turbine Site Study" to assess the potential for generating wind power on government-owned land. ..."We don't want to alarm people," said energy commission vice-chair Barbara Gookin. "Just because we're looking at a site, doesn't mean we are going to build a turbine there."