Mass. AG wants info on Cape Winds costs, profits

[July 09, 2010]  BOSTON (AP) -- The Massachusetts attorney general wants regulators to force Cape Wind to disclose construction and operating costs, and expected investors' profits.

Martha Coakley's office says in a Department of Public Utilities filing Thursday that it needs the numbers to determine if a contract between the Nantucket Sound wind farm and National Grid is good for ratepayers.

The DPU must approve the 15-year deal, in which the utility purchases half of Cape Wind's power for 20.7 cents a kilowatt hour, starting in 2013.

The price is double current power costs. Cape Wind advocates say ratepayers will save money long-term.

Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rodgers said no other energy projects before the DPU have been required to supply the requested information.

He added construction bids were submitted confidentiality, and releasing that information could chill future clean-energy investment.

[Associated Press]

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