Jim Gordon May Have an Answer to our Energy Problems

The potential wind resources off the United States are vast. One analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimated offshore wind potential of the lower 48 states at 1,000 gigawatts -- more than the current total U.S. electrical consumption. The trick is reaping this harvest. Only 10 percent of these sites lie in waters of 30 meters or less, the limit of most current technology; the remaining 90 percent will require innovations such as floating platforms or tripods.

Gordon saw himself as a pioneer who would open the door. In 2000, EMI began examining 17 sites around New England before picking an area in the middle of Nantucket Sound called Horseshoe Shoal. Massachusetts's law prohibits power generation facilities in state waters but Horseshoe Shoal lies in a patch of federal water completely surrounded by state water. According to studies by the U.S. Department of Energy, it also happened to have some of the best wind in the region. His choice was seconded a few years later when Boston developer Jay Cashman began searching for his own wind farm site. "He picked the best spot on the east coast of the United States," says Cashman. "If Jim Gordon wasn't there, I would have chosen that spot."

Gordon dreamed big: 130 turbines, each standing more than 400 feet above the waves, higher than the tallest living redwood. The diameter of the blades would be roughly equivalent to a football field. The foundation piles would be driven 80 feet into the sandy sea floor. His project was bigger than any project in operation at the time (many larger ones are under development). All told, the wind farm would have a capacity of 454 megawatts and generate an average of 170 megawatts per year (turbines usually operate at a fraction of their capacity because wind blows intermittently). One state agency concluded that the added electricity would result in a $25 million savings for customers.

And the energy would be clean. It would offset emissions by 802 tons of sulfer dioxide, 197 tons of nitrous oxide, and 734,000 tons of carbon dioxide -- the equivalent of removing 175,000 cars from the road. The area was served by an aging oil-fired power plant along Cape Cod Canal. (Gordon hasn't completely sworn off fossil fuels: EMI also is developing a diesel-powered peaking plant in Chelsea, Mass.)

Gordon says the wind project will be financed entirely with private capital through a yet-to-be determined combination of debt and equity. "We're confident it can be done," says Ted Roosevelt IV, a Lehman Brothers executive who is arranging financing for Cape Wind. Cape Wind would benefit from several government incentives: federal production tax credits for renewable energy (which can provide one to two thirds of revenue for many wind projects), a Massachusetts program for renewables, and accelerated depreciation allowing capital investments to be written off in five years. New England relies heavily on natural gas, which has tripled in price since 2000. "The economics for him are extremely positive in the present market," says Harvard's Lee. "If gas prices remain high, he's coming in with a very cost-competitive form of power."

Still, even some allies within the wind industry express skepticism about Gordon's grand vision for inspiring a huge offshore industry. "No pun intended, it has a lot of wind in its face from a momentum point of view," says Mike O'Sullivan, senior vice president of development for FPL Energy, the largest wind power generator in the U.S. "First, the construction costs are triple of an onshore project." O'Sullivan speaks from experience: His company is developing another offshore wind project in Long Island. "I believe it's a limited business in the U.S.," he says. "It's not the answer to all the issues everybody is trying to address with a silver bullet."

Gordon was willing to bite the bullet. He expected to be welcomed as an environmental hero and envisioned kayaking around his towers with environmentalist Robert Kennedy, Jr. That part of his vision soon proved to be a mirage.

The Perfect Storm

The offshore site had power all right -- the power of rich and influential opponents. Wayne Kurker was one of the first to raise the alarm. Kurker owns the Hyannis Marina, and in the summer of 2001, he rented dock space to a barge that kept making trips into Nantucket Sound. One day he inquired about their business and the crew told him they were boring into the sea floor to take samples for building windmills. Windmills? Kurker thought that sounded like a fine idea until they showed him the site on a map. "I asked them if they were out of their minds," he says.

"Nobody comes to Cape Cod to see our industry," says Kurker as he overlooks his docks. "They come for its natural beauty. Many people come to the Cape by water and to pass all that machinery, which I think is a big boondoggle anyway, is not what the Cape is about."