Nov 11 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Stephanie Ebbert and Scott Helma The Boston Globe

Governor Mitt Romney yesterday hand-delivered a letter to the US interior secretary, urging her to delay a review of a wind farm proposed off Cape Cod until guidelines can be established for all offshore wind projects.

Romney's letter came less than a week after officials at the Minerals Management Service, a part of the Department of Interior, told the Globe that they may delay the decision for at least a year in order to conduct a new review of the project. The Energy Policy Act, signed into law last summer, transferred oversight for offshore wind projects from the US Army Corps of Engineers to Minerals Management but stipulated that projects already under review need not await new regulations.

In his letter, Romney wrote that wind development proposals are dramatically different than the offshore oil and gas projects that the minerals service had traditionally overseen.

"These projects are typically much larger in scope than oil rig projects, are not necessarily subject to competitive bidding, and have significantly different impacts, benefits, and consequences than other types of projects," the governor wrote. "Clearly, they require a separate and distinct regulatory program."

Romney's effort infuriated supporters of the project, who criticized him for trying to block the only major energy project now proposed in Massachusetts at a time when energy costs are skyrocketing and demand is outpacing supply.

Officials with the regional power grid have been warning that New England could face regular, forced rolling blackouts by 2008 unless officials adopt policies to promote power plant construction.

"We're seeing utter lack of leadership on this," said Sue Reid, a staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation. "At a minimum, the governor should be directing his energy and resources toward promoting energy efficiency and conservation."

Charles Vinick, president and chief executive officer of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, which opposes the project, applauded Romney's statement that wind development deserves its own regulatory review.

"What it's clearly saying is this is all new territory for us. What happens with offshore wind will clearly bring some new challenges and those have to be evaluated," he said.

Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey oppose the Cape Wind project, as does Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, a Democratic candidate for governor next year who wrote similar letters urging the Minerals Management to halt the review. The other Democratic candidate for governor, Deval Patrick, said he favors the wind farm project, and he criticized the governor's actions yesterday.

"It was only Monday that this governor stood before the public and proclaimed his commitment to renewable energy," Patrick said. "Just a few days later, we see that he will go to any lengths to stop the wind farm in Nantucket Sound."

 

By Stephanie Ebbert and Scott Helman