http://gothamist.com/2011/08/25/rockaway_wind_farm_put_out_to_pastu.php
Rockaways Wind Farm Put Out To Pasture
(Via Tobinbridge's Flickr)According to NY1, the offshore Rockaway wind farm that Bloomberg endorsed back in 2009 is all but dead. New York Power Authority, the company behind the plans, just had its CEO resign and now says that it has other things to worry about. "At this point, with our leadership somewhat in flux and having also announced two other major projects, the Hudson Transmission Project and also Recharge New York, we've got a full plate," said Power Authority's Vice Chairman, Jonathan Foster.
Apparently it has now been over a year since the company was given permission to apply for a federal lease on the ocean floor, and it just revoked an application with New York state's power operator. Critics say that it's not surprising. Wind power is a foreign concept here, so companies get skittish about it.
But that's not the main reason. The big deal? Money, of course. An analyst says it would cost anywhere from $2 billion to $4 billion to install the turbines. Uncertainty, plus excessive costs, equals "Nah, we'll pass" when it comes to big corporations.
Still, officials who support the idea aren't giving up. Queens Senator Malcolm Smith said, "I am going to be communicating with the new head of the Power Authority, when we get a clear understanding of who that is, and try to push this idea. This is not just for the Rockaways. This is for something that is going to impact the entire city and the entire state."
