R.I. PUC rejects wind power contract

WARWICK -- A proposal to build an eight-turbine wind farm in waters off Block Island is in jeopardy after the state Public Utilities Commission rejected a long-term contract for Rhode Island's largest electric utility to buy power from what was envisioned as the first project of its kind in the United States.

The three-member commission voted unanimously against the power-purchase agreement between developer Deepwater Wind and National Grid during a public meeting Tuesday morning in its Warwick offices. In separate statements during the hour-long hearing that capped nearly four months of deliberations, the commissioners all spoke out against the proposed contract, saying that the price of power agreed to by the two sides was too high and that the overall deal -- according to the standard set by statute -- was not "commercially reasonable."

The decision was a setback not just for the wind farm, but also for the state's plans to create a green energy economy in Rhode Island, centered at Quonset Point, where Deepwater has plans to create an assembly facility. Governor Carcieri, a vocal supporter of the company's proposal, said he was "stunned" by the vote and called it "an extraordinarily short-sighted and narrow-minded decision."