Here Comes the Big Wind

Following Boston's Big Dig (The mother of all cost over-runs), next in line is the Big Wind, likely to be the Big Daddy of all cost over-runs.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities gave permission yesterday for National Grid to purchase half of Cape Wind’s power, removing the last significant hurdle for construction to begin on the controversial wind farm in Nantucket Sound next year.

“The power from this contract is expensive in light of today’s energy prices,’’ the 374-page DPU decision says. “It may also be expensive in light of forecasted energy prices, although less so than its critics suggest. . . . However, it is abundantly clear that the Cape Wind facility offers significant benefits that are not currently available from any other renewable resource.’’

Those significant benefits, unmentioned, are the padded wallets of those around the project.