With wind energy projects stalled, MA Governor proposes landmark bill

With more than a third of the major wind-energy projects in Massachusetts stalled by lawsuits or permit appeals, the Patrick administration has proposed a landmark bill that would streamline the state’s appeals process and make it possible to win approval of such projects much more quickly. Massachusetts now generates less than 1 percent of the nation’s wind energy, about 9 megawatts, enough to power only about 2,700 homes.

Without a change in the permitting process, administration officials say, the state will not meet Governor Deval Patrick’s goal of producing 2,000 megawatts of wind power, enough for 800,000 homes, by 2020. “For us to see progress, there needs to be a lot more certainty in the permitting process,’’ said Ian Bowles, secretary of the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. “That’s what we’ve heard clearly from the wind industry in order for them to do other significant wind projects in the state.’’

Continue reading the article by David Abel  at The Boston Globe

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