Cape & Islands News

Cape Wind: Final State Approval to Begin Development

Cape Wind Receives "Super Permit" as Final State Approval to Begin Development
U.S. Dept. of Interior's final Record of Decision expected to follow

"Today's vote marks not just a successful conclusion to a seven-year state regulatory review of the Cape Wind project but the beginning of a new era of clean energy jobs and renewable power from the endless wind resources off our shore." - Jim Gordon.

The Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board today gave its final approval to Cape Wind, issuing the long awaited "super permit" necessary for development to begin on the clean energy project supported by over 86 percent of Massachusetts residents.

 This means that Cape Wind has completed its State and Local permitting process today with a unanimous vote of the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board to grant Cape Wind a ‘Certificate of Environmental Impact and Public Interest' that rolls up all State and Local permits and approvals into one ‘composite certificate'.

Cape Wind President Jim Gordon welcomed the news, "Today's vote marks not just a successful conclusion to a seven-year state regulatory review of the Cape Wind project but the beginning of a new era of clean energy jobs and renewable power from the endless wind resources off our shore."

Completion of the Federal Permitting process for Cape Wind is expected soon when U.S. Secretary Ken Salazar issues a Record of Decision on Cape Wind. The Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of Interior issued Cape Wind a favorable Final Environmental Impact Statement in January.

What is the Siting Board?

The Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board was created by the Legislature to ensure the siting of needed and least environmental impact energy facilities and was granted the statutory authority to issue a comprehensive approval to an energy facility it has previously approved, where that facility has been denied a permit by any other state or local agency in the Commonwealth. The Siting Board exercised their statutory authority in their vote today which was necessitated by a procedural denial issued from the Cape Cod Commission in 2007.

In 2005, the Siting Board approved Cape Wind's electrical interconnection at the conclusion of a 32-month review of unprecedented length that included 2,900 pages of transcripts, 923 exhibits and 50,000 pages of documentary evidence. The Siting Board found that Cape Wind would meet an identified need for electricity and would provide a reliable energy supply for Massachusetts, with a minimum impact on the environment. The Siting Board's approval of Cape Wind's electrical interconnection was upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Clean Power Now issues statement

"Today's step in approving Cape Wind is truly a landmark decision for both the Commonwealth and the nation. Massachusetts can now be called the leader in clean energy." - Barbara Hill, executive director of CPN.

Now that the Massachusetts Facility Siting Board's tentative ruling has been formalized, it would override a 2007 denial of the project by the Cape Cod Commission.

Two months ago the siting board ordered its staff to draft a tentative decision to issue nine local and state permits for the 130-turbine project first proposed by Cape Wind Associates which began the permitting process eight years ago.

"Today's step in approving Cape Wind is truly a landmark decision for both the Commonwealth and the nation," said Barbara Hill, executive director of Clean Power Now. "Massachusetts can now be called the leader in clean energy."

The super permit issued by the Energy Facilities Siting Board effectively rolls up all nine state and local permits related to the electric cables into one ‘composite certificate'.

"Cape Wind will not only establish Massachusetts as a national leader in working to end global warming by eliminating a staggering 730,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions," said Captain Richard Elrick, President of Clean Power Now's Board of Directors; "it will also serve as a springboard for the creation of thousands of offshore wind industry jobs at a critical time when new jobs are desperately needed to help rebuild our economy."

Read the previous stories about the siting board:

• Barnstable County has spent over a quarter million to stop Cape Wind - Has town-sized legal bills
• Incongruity lost on editors but not on readers
  
• Same old, same old at Cape Cod Commission
• Barnstable's Improper Lawsuit
• Cape Wind gets unanimous approval for composite certificate
  

Clean Power Now is a non-profit grassroots organization based in Hyannis, Massachusetts with over 12,000 members committed to viable renewable energy projects and policies such as the Cape Wind project.