Projo Biz Blog

SOUTH KINGSTOWN - Governor Carcieri said this morning that his staff is meeting with a group, the Rhode Island Alliance for Clean Energy, to listen to their concerns about a proposed wind farm off the shore of Rhode Island.

The Journal reported Tuesday that the group, founded by four Aquidneck Island residents, have launched a fund-raising drive in an effort to derail Carcieri's plans to bring in a private developer to build a large-scale wind farm. Among the groups claims is that Carcieri's support for building a wind farm has been influenced by donations made to his campaign by employees of a wind farm developer.

In an interview this morning at an event at American Power Conversion, the governor said that his chief energy adviser, Andrew Dzycewicz will meet with the group.

He said he knows the group's leader, Anthony G. Spiratos. "People have different opinions," Carcieri said. "What I find offensive, frankly, is to say that a few contributions - I don't even know who these people are; when you're running a campaign, lots of people contribute - the notion that I am somehow influenced by contributions is absurd. I believe this is something we need to do, or see if we can do."

The governor said that there are six or seven wind farm developers who have expressed interest in submitting a proposal for an offshore wind farm. The deadline for submissions is May 16.

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