Wind power projects losing steam on Cape

Last year could be considered a banner one for wind power in Massachusetts.

After a decade in the regulatory pipeline, the 130-turbine Cape Wind project received federal approval. And Gov. Deval Patrick’s re-election puts his goal of 2,000 megawatts of wind power by 2020 back on track.

But it was not so cheery a year for Cape wind power proponents, though the region’s substantial wind resources are considered key to the state’s goals.

Municipal wind turbine proposals in Harwich and Wellfleet were defeated by town votes. The Old King's Highway Historic District Commission struck down a wind turbine at Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable and a private turbine at Aquacultural Research Corp. in Dennis, though the latter project is under appeal. Most recently, the Cape Cod National Seashore withdrew its wind turbine proposal for Highland Arts Center in Truro.

Add in earlier defeats of turbines in Eastham and Orleans, and the future of land-based wind turbines here doesn't seem so rosy.

Last year, anti-wind forces became more organized, gaining political traction by questioning aesthetics and the health impacts of turbine noise and shadow flicker. They used the term "industrial wind power" to contrast turbines with the rural values they believe many Cape residents cherish.

Even the most adamant proponents for land-based wind turbines see an about-face.

"I'm not sure how realistic it is to see significant deployment on the Cape," Charles McLaughlin, president of Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative, said.

The cooperative, established by the Cape Light Compact in 2006, hoped to fund a network of wind turbines in Cape towns to share the benefits and costs of wind power. But in three years, it has yet to erect a single turbine, and after losing money in Harwich, it is changing its financing rules for towns. Only Brewster, which proposes two large turbines on town-owned land with co-op money, has a project under consideration.

Now, the co-op is focused on what McLaughlin said is currently the largest solar power project in the East: 25 megawatts of photovoltaic cells to be located in town landfills.

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