The Long Island Power Authority has cancelled plans to construct a 140 megawatt wind project 3 miles off the south shore of Long Island.  The project's estimated costs had ballooned to more than $800 million including transmission lines. Newsday reports that a study by Pace Global Energy Services, a consulting firm, found that the premium for wind-generated power from the Jones Beach project, over a 20-year period, would translate to about $2.50 per month to the typical residential consumer bill, or a total $66 million per year for all of Long Island. PACE arrived at the figure by comparing the cost of electricity produced in a combined-cycle natural gas power plant on Long Island, which is about $137 per megawatt hour, and a megawatt hour of power produced by the wind farm, which it said "could be $291."   Keep in mind that the $2.50 premium for wind is above the cost of gas, the highest cost power source. This is a real blow to the Energy Bill passed earlier...(Read Full Post)