Why isn't Georgia joining wind energy push?

State officials say they're hesitant to join other Atlantic states in a new offshore wind development consortium because they're unsure of the potential costs or obligations in the future. Besides that, they say other renewable energy sources -- such as biomass or solar -- offer better potential.

"Before we join up with something, we want the full details in terms of time and effort and money," said Bert Brantley, spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Yet environmentalists say they worry the state is setting itself up to miss out on part of the future of clean energy development in America.

"The governor's office is essentially saying we don't even want to be part of the conversation," said Jennette Gayer of Environment Georgia. She accused the state of being shortsighted when it comes to wind energy.

"It's really disappointing," she added. "We have a source of energy off our coast, it's not going to spill, it’s not going to ruin our coastline … and we don't even want to talk about it?"

The June 8 announcement by the U.S. Department of the Interior that it had reached an agreement with 10 East Coast governors to work together on developing energy-producing windmills in the Atlantic was billed as an important step toward a clean energy future. Two other states -- Florida and South Carolina -- didn't formally join the offshore wind consortium, but the Interior Department noted it is working with those states to set up intergovernmental task forces to promote offshore wind development and facilitate permitting for future turbines.

U.S. officials say that -- along with being emissions-free -- offshore wind power could be particularly advantageous because coastal states are the nation's biggest users of power. In other countries -- Denmark is the leader -- offshore wind turbines produce as much as 20 percent of all electricity. Typically, offshore turbines can't be seen from land.

Besides Georgia, Connecticut is the only Atlantic state that wasn't included in the Interior Department's announcement of its latest offshore wind energy push -- but only because Connecticut doesn't have any federal offshore waters, according to the agency.

Officials at the Interior Department, which is responsible for offshore energy permits,  say they reached out to Georgia and would welcome the state into the working group. As for potential costs and obligations, they're minimal.

"There aren’t any specific financial obligations associated with becoming a member of the consortium, although there may be travel or internal administrative costs," agency spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said in an e-mail interview. "Other states have recognized these possible costs, but have chosen to participate."

Chuck Mueller, senior policy adviser at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, said the state hasn't ruled out joining the working group.

Mueller said part of the reason other states may be more eager to work with federal officials is because they're far ahead of Georgia on wind energy development.

"We have been kind of looking into it ... but we're not sure whether wind is the most viable alternative energy source for Georgia right now," he said.

Offshore wind, Mueller and Brantley said, simply holds less potential for Georgia than other renewable energy sources, such as biomass or solar.

"If this was a solar consortium or a biomass consortium, we'd be the first ones to sign up," Brantley said. "But it's not likely that wind is going to be Georgia's core strength in terms of energy."

Past studies indicate there is good potential for wind energy off Georgia's coast, however.

Bill Bulpitt, a former Georgia Tech researcher who in 2007 co-authored a study with the Southern Co., said parts of the Atlantic off of Georgia have "Class 4″ winds, in industry parlance.

"To put it in perspective, the onshore wind [energy] people would be jumping all over themselves to develop wind energy with Class 4 winds," said Bulpitt, who now works for a company trying to develop biomass electricity plants.

At the Interior Department, spokeswoman Barkoff said federal studies have shown "there is significant wind resource potential" off Georgia's coast.

Atlanta-based Southern Co. for several years has been considering offshore wind development, even though it has said it is much more costly than coal, nuclear or other sources. Valerie Hendrickson, a spokeswoman for the company, said it is working on federal permit applications to set up wind research towers off of Georgia. She declined to comment on Georgia's lack of participation in the national wind consortium.

Nonetheless, some environmentalists and others accuse the state -- and the Southern Co. -- of dragging its feet on offshore wind energy development. The latest decision not to join the federal consortium, they say, is simply the latest example.

"I'm afraid this is going to be a situation in which by standing still, we take three steps backward," said Paul Wolff, a Tybee Island City Council member who has been pushing for wind development off Georgia's coast for years.

"If we're not moving forward, we're losing ground," Wolff added, "because everybody else seems to be getting it faster than we are."

America’s first offshore wind farm

The Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod is the first large-scale wind farm to be approved off the U.S. coast. Cape Wind, which will be about five miles off the cape and will just be visible on the horizon, will consist of 130 wind turbines. Each will be on a 16-foot-in-diameter post driven 80 feet into the seabed and will reach a maximum height (the uppermost tip of each turbine blade) of 440 feet.

The “wind park” will be sited at Horseshoe Shoal, where the water is as shallow as 2 feet in places, and winds are strong and steady. Some local residents say the farm will be a visual blight on Nantucket Sound; other opponents say it will be too costly. Nonetheless, the project could be up and running as early as 2013.

Average expected production will be 170 megawatts, almost 75 percent of the electricity demand for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

Sources: capewind.org, cnn.com, Boston Globe