Patrick Signs On To Wind Energy Consortium

Just over a month since Cape Wind received final approval from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Massachusetts is partnering with nine other East Coast states to promote the development of new offshore wind energy projects.

Gov. Deval Patrick was joined by nine other governors and U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in signing a memo Tuesday to create the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium.

Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles says the consortium is aimed at promoting the efficient, orderly and responsible development of wind resources on the outer Continental Shelf.

“The Department of Energy has done an analysis that shows that you’d have enough power out there to power the entire eastern seaboard,” Bowles said. “And I think it’s a question of how can we make all this possible in a realistic, meaningful time-frame.”

Bowles says the consortium’s creation will not affect Cape Wind, but will work to speed-up the review process for future wind energy sites.

“We in Massachusetts have the opportunity to have the first offshore wind project and all the industry that comes with that,” Bowles said. “I think really now the federal government is figuring out: How do we do this at a larger scale and a timely fashion?”