Offshore Wind: The Enormously Expensive Energy Alternative

Unfortunately, offshore wind is enormously expensive. The US Department of Energy (DOE) estimates the levelized cost of wind-generated electricity at more than double the cost of coal-fired electricity and more than three times the cost of power from natural gas. For example, the proposed Cape Wind project off the coast of southeast Massachusetts will initially deliver electricity at 18.7 cents per kilowatt-hour with a built-in increase of 3.5 percent per year over a fifteen-year contract. This is more than triple the wholesale cost of electricity in New England.

I guess when Cape Wind goes online I’ll be shutting off the hot tub. Buying candles, using a manual toothbrush. Thank God I have NG for heating and cooking!