Massachusetts Offshore Wind Farm Forecasts Incredibly Low Rates

A proposed wind farm off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts has indicated that it can produce electricity starting at 7.4 cents per kilowatt hour. This will purportedly save Massachusetts customers $1.4 billion dollars over 20 years and reduce monthly bills by between 0.1 percent and 1.5 percent. Whether they can fulfill that pledge is questionable, but to even attempt to do so requires huge subsidies from the government paid for by the American taxpayer. Federal tax credits and a long-term power-purchase agreement are what make the project feasible. The costs of installing turbines in the ocean are very high, but the investment tax credit can significantly cut the capital costs for developers—by 30 percent. Thus, a $2 billion project would receive $600 million from the federal government in the form of tax credits.