SCAMWind Farms: Offshore Trojan Horses
Authored by Gordon Hughes via RealClearEnergy,
In July, the U.S. Department of Interior greenlighted large offshore wind farms in New Jersey and Maryland.Once the financial agreements are in place, New Jersey’s Atlantic Shores and Maryland’s MarWin and Momentum will join the two large wind farms in New York approved in June. These projects will receive huge, multi billion-dollar subsidies from the federal government and electricity ratepayers.What benefits will New Jersey and Maryland enjoy from this flood of money?
To answer this question, it is best to recall the classic warning of the Trojan Horse legend, “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”—in other words, the hidden dangers of accepting something that seems too good to be true. New York State ignored that warning when it agreed to pay very high prices for the electricity to be supplied from its new offshore wind farms—Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind—located off the coast of Long Island.
In announcing the final agreements,New York Governor Kathy Hochul triumphantly claimed that the new projects would create more than 800jobs during the construction phase and deliver more than $6 billion in economic benefits for the state over 25 years.
Rather less emphasis was given to the fact that New York will pay an average price of over $150 per MWh (megawatt hour) for the electricity generated by Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind.That’s more than fourtimes the average wholesale price of electricity in New York during 2023–24, $36 per MWh. The total annual premium over the wholesale market price for the power from these wind farms will be about $520 million per year at 2024 prices. Over 25 years, New York ratepayers will be paying about $13 billion for alleged benefits of $6 billion.
