Va Spins Offshore Wind Farm For Chumps?

Dems can’t say if $739B inflation bill will decrease global temperature as Va ok’s $9.8B offshore Wind Farm that socks utility customers with steep electric bills if turbines stop “Blowin’ in the Wind”? Chump Change or Chumps?

As the WSJ complained: “Now that their climate spending bill has been signed by Pres. Biden, Democrats might go to bed dreaming of wind farms. What they’re sleeping through is the green logrolling & corporatism already evident in the clean-power transition. A good example is an offshore wind farm that Virginia regulators approved under obvious duress.” The “Plan” calls for 176 wind turbines 27 miles off the state’s coast around Virginia Beach so’s to theoretically power 660K homes. How to pay for the capital cost? Rate increase, natch. But, also, rather than allow the host utility, Dominion, the right to buy power from an outside developer if & when the wind stops blowing, Dominion was forced, er, persuaded to “construct, own & operate the Project.”

“What could go wrong?” the editors ask. How about the technology needed but still to be “designed,” either fizzles or proves untenable? Or, since “offshore wind at this scale is new to the US … there is no developed supply chain which could lead to construction delays and cost overruns.” And, what if the whole project is ultimately abandoned & the $3.7B already spent on it has to be covered. In THAT case or cases, Dominion gets to pass the unforeseen additional costs onto the Chumps, er, CUSTOMERS.

Davd Soul