 
Feds Approve East Coast Wind Farm
IBEW Journal, Spring 2008
Green energy supporters scored a big victory in January when the nation’s first proposed offshore wind farm – Cape Wind off the Massachusetts coast – received preliminary approval from the federal government.
The Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service, which holds authority over the Cape Wind project, examined potentially negative effects of the proposed 130-turbine farm. According to its 2,000-page draft environmental report, the turbines will have little to no effect on either wildlife or tourism, two of the top concerns raised by Cape Wind opponents. The federal government could soon give the project a final go-ahead, said Jim Gordon, president of Energy Management Inc., the company behind Cape Wind, removing the last major obstacle to the wind farm.
“We think the release of the report moves Massachusetts closer to a world leadership position in offshore energy,” Gordon said.
The turbines would stand five miles off the shore of Massachusetts in the shallow waters of Nantucket Sound, a triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod.
Since it was first proposed nearly eight years ago, Boston Local 103 has been one of Cape Wind’s strongest supporters. Soon after Gordon announced his plans to build the offshore turbines, Local 103 Business Manager Michael Monahan approached him, offering to supply skilled electricians to build and operate Cape Wind and to help with the grassroots lobbying effort needed to get the project through Congress.
The local helped Gordon with the permitting and licensing process and joined with environmentalists, both in Massachusetts and on Capitol Hill, to promote Cape Wind.
“We wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the labor unions and the environmental community,” Gordon told a meeting of the Apollo Alliance, a broad-based coalition of trade unions, environmentalists and energy technology entrepreneurs. “The IBEW helped turn aside backroom efforts to put a stake through the heart of Cape Wind.”
Despite support from green power experts, environmentalists, organized labor, and more than 80 percent of state residents, Cape Wind was opposed by a small but determined group of wealthy residents and politicians, who were worried about the potential impact of the project on wildlife and property values. But with final approval from the government expected later this year, Gordon said that construction on the turbines – which is expected to take up to two years – could start as early as 2009.
The $770 million wind farm could provide three-quarters of the electricity used on Cape Cod and the islands. But Cape Wind will mean more than just clean energy. It is projected to create more than 1,000 union jobs, 600 of those IBEW, said Local 103 Business Agent Marty Aikens. “This is great move forward for the environment and a great chance to create good jobs,” he said. More than 50 Local 103 members will be responsible for maintaining Cape Wind once it is operational.
“The emergence of wind energy is not a fad,” Monahan said. “Electricity deregulation laws passed in Massachusetts mandate the development of these technologies and those unprepared will be left behind.”
More than three years ago, Local 103 set up a 15-story wind turbine at its training center two miles from downtown Boston. The turbine supplies more than a quarter of the three-story facility’s power and is used to train both apprentices and journeymen on wind power technology.
Cape Wind still needs a handful of state and local permits before construction can begin, but those are not expected to be an obstacle, thanks to the support of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D).
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