Dive Brief:

• Cape Wind opponents have filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston to have a lower court’s decision reversed that Massachusetts did not illegally coerce NStar into signing a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the 468 megawatt offshore wind installation planned for Nantucket Sound. A lower-court judge dismissed the claim as “a vexatious abuse of the democratic process.”
• This 27th lawsuit against Cape Wind brought by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound and allies, funded by oil and gas heir William Koch, follows their 26 defeats in local and district courts, a legal battle Koch publicly acknowledged has always been about making development too costly and time-consuming for project head Jim Gordon to pursue.
• The 15 year PPA covers 27.5% of Cape Wind’s output at $0.187 per kilowatt-hour, with a 3.5% yearly rise, and matches the terms of the National Grid PPA covering 50% of the project’s output, both of which were found by state regulators to be beneficial for Massachusetts ratepayers.

Dive Insight:

The appeal argues Massachusetts regulators exceeded their wholesale rate-setting authority, a violation of the Federal Power Act and the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by usurping the authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The Town of Barnstable and the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, whose President/CEO told this reporter William Koch is among the group’s supporters, brought the appeal.

Cape Wind, which would be the first full scale U.S. offshore wind installation, continues to move ahead with plans.