State Energy Office to decide wind power sites

PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Gov. Don Carcieri's administration could soon decide whether to move forward on several wind turbine projects along Rhode Island's coast.

Earlier this year, the state Energy Office identified 11 sites in Rhode Island where the winds are strong enough to support the turbines. Carcieri has said he wants 15 percent of the state's electricity supply to eventually come from wind power.

After four meetings that finished Wednesday, a committee of about 35 people that included environmentalists, fishermen and others did not settle on any particular sites. Two of the most promising locations are off shore, just south of Block Island and off the coast of Little Compton.

"It is premature to start eliminating sites based on the information we have now," said Cynthia Giles, the Rhode Island advocacy director for the Conservation Law Foundation.

But neither did the group raise any "show-stopping" complaints, said Andrew Dzykewicz, Carcieri's chief energy adviser.

Dzykewicz's office will now compile the group's feedback into a report and identify two or three viable sites, he said.

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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.projo.com/