Additional Press Coverage December 2

Cape Cod Times: “The final blow for Cape Wind”
Dec 2, 2017 –

The proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm is no longer.

After more than 16 years, tens of millions of dollars spent and seemingly endless, at times deafening, debate, the announcement Friday that Cape Wind is officially dead came quietly by email.

“Cape Wind has confirmed to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that it has ceased development of its proposed offshore wind farm project in Nantucket Sound and has filed to terminate its offshore wind development lease that was issued in 2010,” according to a statement sent to the Times by Cape Wind vice president Dennis Duffy.

The project first proposed in 2001 and reviewed by dozens of local, state and federal agencies succumbed not under the weight of pressure from opponents or failure to clear any particular regulatory hurdle but rather from a combination of time and financial constraints that tightened and loosened over many years before constricting for good when utilities killed the contracts to buy power from the project’s 130 wind turbines in early January 2015.

Even after losing customers for its power, however, Cape Wind Associates LLC continued to shell out $88,278 to pay for a lease secured in 2010 covering 46 square miles of federal waters in the middle of the sound. That amount was a drop in the bucket compared to the more than $100 million the company had already spent on the project but whether it was what finally tipped the scales is unclear.

“During Cape Wind’s development period we successfully developed over a billion dollars of renewable solar and biomass energy projects and, although we were unable to bring Cape Wind to fruition, we are proud of the catalyzing and pioneering effort we devoted to bringing offshore wind to the United States,” James Gordon, president of Cape Wind and its parent company, Energy Management Inc., said in the statement forwarded by Duffy. “Our successful resolution of the multiple appeals established important legal precedents that will hopefully make it easier for other offshore wind developers that follow.”

Beyond the single-page statement and a copy of the notice announcing they had abandoned the project and surrendered their commercial lease, Cape Wind officials remained mum on why they were giving up on their plans at this time.

Regardless of the reason, however, opponents greeted the news with praise and a mixture of disbelief.

“It’s fantastic news for us and all the groups that have been fighting this project for years,” said Audra Parker, president of the project’s primary opposition group, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. “Clearly it’s a major accomplishment.”

The alliance plans to move forward with the coalition of groups it has developed to make sure that “never again is a private developer given the rights to land that belongs to all of us,” Parker wrote in a follow-up statement.

“This is encouraging, but there’s still work to be done to protect the federal waters of Nantucket Sound,” said Charles McLaughlin, assistant town attorney for Barnstable.

Read more //www.capecodtimes.com/news/20171201/final-blow-for-cape-wind

Washington Post: “Developer abandons plans for long-stalled Cape Cod wind farm”
By Associated Press, December 1

BOSTON — A Massachusetts company is abandoning its long-stalled plans for a wind farm off Cape Cod.

Cape Wind Associates notified the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management this week that it has ceased operations and was surrendering its federal lease for 46 square miles (119 square kilometers) in Nantucket Sound. Company vice president Dennis Duffy disclosed the official notice Friday.

The Patch: “Cape Wind Abandons 130-Turbine Nantucket Sound Array”
December 2, 2017, by Jason Claffey

Cape Wind, first proposed in 2001, called for 130 turbines measuring more than 400 feet tall in Nantucket Sound.

Mass Live: “As Cape Wind dies, offshore wind picks up steam in Massachusetts”
December 4, 2017

Kallanish Energy: “Developers kill Cape Wind project off Massachusetts”
December 4, 2017

Cape Wind is dead. Developers on Friday pulled the plug on the controversial, long-stalled $2.5 billion wind project off the southern coast of Massachusetts.

CapeCod.com: “Cape Wind Associates Surrenders Lease; 16-Year Saga Comes to an End”
December 3, 2017

Cape Wind Associates last week abandoned its long-stalled plans for a wind farm on Horseshoe Shoals in Nantucket Sound.

The company notified the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that it has ceased operations and was surrendering its federal lease for 46 square miles between the Cape and Islands.

Company vice president Dennis Duffy disclosed the official notice Friday.

Cape Cod Times – Opinion: “End of Cape Wind is a victory for our Sound”
December 4, 2017

Kudos to the Save Our Sound organization in its victory over Cape Wind.

All Cape Cod residents and visitors owe a debt of gratitude to these fine folks who advocated tirelessly on behalf of Nantucket Sound and the overall Cape Cod ecosystem.

It’s a shame that pristine beaches, marshes, wetlands and woodlands require such vibrant advocacy for protection from municipal and corporate greed.

Common sense should prevail, and as S.O.S. so profoundly claimed, “Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.”

Well done, S.O.S. Well done!

Brian Koelbel, President
Gateway Isles Association
South Yarmouth

Clean Technica: “East Coast Offshore Wind Is Alive but Cape Wind Project Is Dead”
December 4th, 2017 by Steve Hanley

Timing is everything. Jim Gordon — who BNEF analyst Amy Grace calls “a visionary” — began planning for a proposed offshore wind farm he called Cape Wind in 2001. He wanted to plunk 130 wind turbines down in Nantucket Sound to provide power to to Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket. The turbines would cover a 25 square mile area and have a capacity of 468 megawatts — enough to power 200,000 homes with clean- renewable energy.

NA Wind Power: “Cape Wind Officially Pulls the Plug”
Betsy Lillian, December 4, 2017

Sixteen years after it was first proposed, Cape Wind has officially pulled the plug on its offshore wind farm planned for Massachusetts’ Nantucket Sound.

In a statement, Cape Wind says it has confirmed to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) that it has ceased development of the project and has filed to terminate its development lease that was issued in 2010. The 468 MW wind farm, which would have comprised 130 Siemens turbines…

Utility Dive: “Cape Wind developers call it quits”
By Robert Walton, December 4, 2017

Developers have canceled plans for a 468 MW offshore wind farm that would have been located five miles from Cape Cod, Mass.

Washington Examiner: “Company pulls plug on Massachusetts’ Cape Wind offshore wind farm”
by John Siciliano, December 4, 2017

Offshore Engineer: “Cape Wind to Surrender U.S. Lease”
December 5, 2017

US wind developers Cape Wind have applied to relinquish its lease offshore Massachusetts, which at one time had been set to be America’s first offshore wind farm. A series of setbacks endured by Cape Wind allowed the honor of America’s first offshore wind farm to be bestowed upon Deepwater …

Renewables Now: “Cape Wind developer officially backs away from offshore project”
December 5, 2017 –

Boston-based Energy Management Inc has cancelled the offshore wind development lease for its 468-MW Cape Wind project off Massachusetts, according to a statement quoted by the media. The company has informed the US Department of the Interior (DOI) that it will …

Green Tech Media: “Cape Wind’s Demise Comes Amidst a Resurgence for US Offshore Wind”
Jeff St. John, December 06, 2017

It was supposed to be America’s first offshore wind farm. But it’s been supplanted by a new wave of projects.

959 WATD: “Cape Wind Project Calls It Quits”
BY Amy Leonard, December 6, 2017

After 16 years of resistance from the opposition, the developer of the proposed offshore wind farm, Cape Wind, has called it quits.

WATD news spoke with Audra Parker, President and CEO of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a group that fought fiercely against the project

Read more http//959watd.com/blog/2017/12/ma-cape-wind-project-calls-it-quits/