DoE announces plans to back $150 million wind energy project

The Department of Energy (DoE) announced on Tuesday that it would issue a $150 million loan guarantee to support the construction of a wind energy project off the coast of Massachusetts.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said the DoE has an “embarrassing” history of loan failures, and the DoE’s backing of the Cape Wind project raised questions.

“While renewable energy is a vital component of an all-of-the-above energy strategy, the administration’s backing of Cape Wind is an unnecessary and ill-advised gamble of taxpayer dollars,” Upton said. “And once the project is built, New England ratepayers will be forced to shoulder the costs of Cape Wind’s expensive power generation. We look forward to reviewing the terms of this guarantee and DoE’s due diligence. Our oversight of DoE’s loan programs continues, and we will be watching this project very closely.”

The Cape Wind project would be the first commercial-scale offshore wind facility in the United States and would have the capacity to generate more than 360 megawatts of energy off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., according to the DoE.

“In just the last year, eight projects in the department’s loan programs office have become fully operational, including one of the world’s largest operating photovoltaic solar power plants, the world’s largest concentrating solar power plant and a vital western transmission line,” Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said. “These innovative projects are delivering clean, renewable energy for American consumers today and are helping to diversify our energy portfolio. The department’s loan guarantees have assisted the launch of new industries in the U.S., and today’s announcement of a conditional commitment to the Cape Wind project demonstrates our intent to help build a strong U.S. offshore wind industry.”

The Cape Wind project is expected to create 400 construction jobs and 50 operational jobs, according to the DoE.