While the price tag was the final straw for Law, the momentum to stop the project grew from the tenacious grassroots opposition of those who lived near the beach, which in turn motivated their elected officials to turn up the heat on LIPA.......Siting a wind park visible from the sands of Jones Beach, the closest thing Long Island has to sacred ground, was a mistake.

Now that the plug has been pulled on the Long Island Power Authority's plan to put 40 massive wind turbines just off Jones Beach, the search for clean, alternative energy - especially wind - must start anew.

Kevin Law, LIPA's new chair, wisely scuttled the project because of its stunning $700 million-plus price tag to power only 44,000 homes. A report commissioned by the utility found that ratepayers would be paying a significant "green premium" for wind - well over the cost of even a brand new, highly efficient traditional power plant. That's due to the dramatic rise in the price of steel and other raw materials, as well as the general reluctance of turbine manufacturers to work in the untested off-shore market in North America. And there are still some glitches with deep water turbines.

Long Island needs to cut its dependence on fossil fuels, but it would be paying through the nose right now to do so. This was a project that was a little ahead of its time - but probably not by all that much.

While the price tag was the final straw for Law, the momentum to stop the project grew from the tenacious grassroots opposition of those who lived near the beach, which in turn motivated their elected officials to turn up the heat on LIPA. The experience should hold two lessons for the authority. Siting a wind park visible from the sands of Jones Beach, the closest thing Long Island has to sacred ground, was a mistake. The problem might be solved by the next generation of offshore turbines, which are being designed to be placed in deeper waters. The other is that LIPA and the environmental groups that advocated for the project didn't sufficiently educate the community about the imperative of developing renewable energy sources. Most likely, the cost per kilowatt of the next wind project will also be more when compared with fossil fuels, and the public needs to be convinced to dig deeper in their pockets for it.

Richard Kessel, the outgoing head of LIPA, needed to be more transparent about the economics, but he deserves credit for his unwavering support. He forced Long Islanders to confront how committed they are to renewable resources. The answer may well be wind, but when it's more economical, reliable and can be built farther offshore.

Web link: http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpwind24534...