Comparing Wind Power Proposals for Long Island and Delaware

What lessons can we learn from the collapse of the wind power project in Long Island? Quite a few. The News Journal today chronicles the missteps of the Long Island Power Authority and FPL Wind in their efforts to build an offshore wind farm.

Long Islanders say Delaware, now considering an offshore wind farm of its own, can learn from the considerable mistakes made by the power authority and wind farm developer.

The differences between the Long Island plan and the one being contemplated for Delaware are considerable. The proposal by Bluewater Wind has been tested by competing with coal and natural gas. It is being refined by ongoing negotiations with a power company that has yet to agree to terms. The Long Island proposal started with a lowball number. Its costs have escalated four-fold since it was first presented. The cost of the Bluewater Wind proposal nudged up slightly as the size of the wind farm was reduced from 200 to 150 turbines. The Long Island plan is only one fourth the size, which means it would be less cost effective.
The News Journal had the municipal energy director for the town of Babylon New York look at the numbers. The worst he could say was that he didn't understand the difference between the FPL and Bluewater Wind proposals.
The Bluewater Wind proposal is being closely examined from front to back and top to bottom. If there were any significant traps in the proposal, someone would have noticed by now.
There are other encouraging differences to be noted. While Long Island residents have complained about the views, hardly anyone in Delaware has raised the issue.