Citing Exorbitant Costs, Massachusetts Ratepayers Say 'Reject Cape Wind Contract'

HYANNIS, Mass., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Faced with the prospect of skyrocketing electric bills, an overwhelming majority of Massachusetts ratepayers polled want the state to pull the plug on the proposed Cape Wind project.

Responding to evidence showing that Cape Wind would significantly increase electric bills for Massachusetts residents, businesses and schools, 70 percent of respondents not only oppose the project, but said that the state should reject the contract completely. 81 percent said the project should be re-bid to ensure competitive prices.

"This poll and every recent poll on Cape Wind's exorbitant costs are unanimous: Voters do NOT want to foot the massive bill for Cape Wind," said Audra Parker, president and CEO of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, which paid for the poll.  "It's time that Governor Patrick and other state leaders realize that the burden Cape Wind would put on individuals and businesses across the Commonwealth is unconscionable and would cost the state jobs."

The poll also showed an alarming and widespread misunderstanding of Cape Wind's ramifications. Even among those who would pay the bills – National Grid ratepayers – a staggering 63 percent still believe the project would either lower their bills or leave them unchanged.

"The propaganda campaign of the governor's office and Cape Wind continues to work," said Christy Mihos, a longtime opponent of the project and former gubernatorial candidate. "But once people find out the truth, they reject Cape Wind out of hand."

In fact, 70 percent of poll respondents reject Cape Wind when they are informed of the estimated cost to ratepayers and the fact that cheaper green energy sources are readily available.

The Bernett Research survey is supported by a slew of polls that have registered the state's growing opposition to the high cost of Cape Wind to consumers and businesses. Recent polls by the Boston Globe and the UMass-Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis found a majority of residents unwilling to pay higher electric rates for Cape Wind. A survey by the Boston Business Journal showed 58 percent of readers believe Cape Wind, whose cost has already ballooned to $6 billion, is quickly becoming the state's next Big Dig.

The poll by Boston-based Bernett Research is based on telephone interviews with 300 National Grid ratepayers across Massachusetts conducted Oct. 6 through Oct. 9 and has a margin of error of +/- 5.7 percent.

SOURCE Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound