Study hints power rates to stay high :: Cape Wind :: America's First Offshore Wind Farm on Nantucket Sound

print story

send story

Study hints power rates to stay high
Thursday, August 02, 2007
New England's electricity rates, among the highest in the nation, will continue to depend almost entirely on the price of natural gas over the next two decades -- no matter what policies state leaders adopt for conserving energy and approving new kinds of power plants, according to a study being released today.

The report, by Independent System Operator New England, which runs the six-state power grid and the region's $10 billion wholesale power market, offers no hope rates will drop significantly unless the price of natural gas plummets. That's an outcome few energy investors are banking on.

...Government policies intended to curb air pollution, nuclear plant closings, and citizen opposition to wind-power projects, such as Cape Wind in Nantucket Sound, have resulted in increased reliance on natural gas to generate electricity in the region.

Note: Click here to read this Boston Globe article

Also in Energy in the News:
· US takes wind-power lead   (07/23/08)
· Gore sets energy goal for 2018   (07/18/08)
· Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens wants to supplant oil with wind   (07/08/08)