The Long and Winding Road: The Cape Wind Offshore Wind Project in Nantucket Sound

In 2001 EMI Energy began efforts to construct the first offshore wind project in U.S. coastal waters. With a proposed location in Nantucket Sound about six miles from Hyannis, nine miles from Martha's Vineyard, and 13 miles from Nantucket Island, the 468-megawatt Cape Wind project is one of the most disputed wind projects in history. In 2010, following nine years of administrative battles, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior issued a decision that ended a National Historic Preservation Act dispute and approved the Cape Wind project lease. Although litigation continues, the project is slated to begin installation in 2015. In this presentation Jeremy Firestone, director of the Center for Carbon-Free Power Integration at the University of Delaware, will consider the social, cultural, environmental, legal, regulatory, and economic hurdles the project has faced, place it in the context of comparative energy development, and suggest what these considerations mean for the future. Free. Room 1, Olin Science Center, Colby College.