Mass. AG: Cape Wind Power Deal In Public Interest

The Massachusetts attorney general has recommended regulators approve a power purchase deal between National Grid and the nation's inaugural offshore wind farm, saying the pact is "in the public interest."

The recommendation by Martha Coakley on Monday comes after she negotiated a deal last month with Cape Wind to drop its starting price from 20.7 cents per kilowatt hour to 18.7 cents, starting in 2013. The price goes up 3.5 percent annually.

The deal must be approved by the state Department of Public Utilities, which begins hearings this month.

Cape Wind is planning a 130-turbine wind farm in Nantucket Sound. Critics the project's power is too costly and that it would mar historic vistas.

Also Monday, Cape Wind announced the Federal Aviation Administration had given the project its final approval.