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June 21, 2006

Cape Wind project gets reprieve from veto

Cape Wind Associates scored a significant victory today as two key senators agreed to drop language from a pending bill that would have allowed the governor of Massachusetts or the U.S. Coast Guard to veto the wind farm project for any reason.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who backed the original measure, agreed to new language that drops the veto provisions, but gives the Coast Guard additional oversight over the siting of the Cape Wind project.

A spokeswoman for Kennedy said that he still believes the governor should have a say over whether the project should be built. But he agreed to the new language, she said, because it will ensure that "public safety is going to be central'' in siting the project.

The new provision requires the Coast Guard to develop a list "reasonable terms and conditions'' to provide navigational safety. Cape Wind would be required to meet those conditions, and they would be included in any lease granted to the project developers.

The provision applies only to an off-shore project in Nantucket Sound. It would not apply to any other wind project, such as the one proposed by Jay Cashman Inc. for Buzzards Bay.

Posted by Tim Barmann  at 3:10 PM | Permalink

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