Currently, the preferred sites are off the south and western shores of Block Island, but other sites will be considered. What's interesting is one of the locations lies in state waters, just south of Block Island, while the other is southwest of the island in federal waters. Either site could contain 56 wind turbines and generate 220 megawatts of electricity (which actually makes the project roughtly half the size of Cape Wind). At this time, MMS still hasn't issued any rules for siting projects on the Outer Continental Shelf - and with presidential elections rapidly approaching (which means changes at the top of agencies like MMS), my guess is that we won't see a final rule issued and in place at least until 2009 (and that assumes that parties don't appeal the rule to the courts). So companies that are serious about developing Rhode Island's offshore wind resource should endeavor to make a proposal work in state waters so as to avoid the regulatory uncertainty in federal waters created by MMS' delays.
What's also interesting is that the article reports that even though the state has a particular site in mind, the state is also undertaking a zoning process to identify areas suitable for wind development. Apparently, there is at least some possibility that the zoning process might conclude that the Block Island site is off limits. If true, then Rhode Island's zoning process - which is intended to create more certainty for developers - could have the perverse effect of injecting more uncertainty into the permitting process for a Block Island offshore wind project.
