On Friday the 13th, a lot of us tend to watch our step. So it didn't bode well for controversy-magnet Cape Wind, an offshore wind effort in the Nantucket Sound. Well, the project must have had the luck of the Irish, because on Friday it cleared one of the last remaining hurdles to full approval.

The Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board voted unanimously to grant the proposal a golden pass that covers all state and local permits related to the electric cables that will be essential to finishing the 130 turbine facility. The siting board's decision reverses and overrides a 2007 denial to bury electric cables by the Cape Code Commission.

Until recently, Cape Wind looked like a sinking ship with Bay Staters embroiled in a battle over it for 8 years. Opponents have tried all manner of maneuvering, from amending Congressional legislation in 2006 to give veto power to MA's governor (at the time, vocal opponent Mitt Romney) to proposing a floating wind farm alternative around this time last year.

However, the waters have calmed lately for boosters of the 170 megawatt facility. In January, the plan earned a favorable Final Environmental Impact Statement. A draft EIS was prepared by the Army Corps of Engineers in 2004, but the 2005 Energy Policy Act transferred authority for offshore wind to the Minerals Management Service, so the Corps analysis had to be tossed overboard and the process started from scratch.

Cape Wind isn't out of the shoals yet, though. They will have to negotiate with the nearby towns of Yarmouth and Barnstable on cable burial. Barring any complications there (good luck), final government approval will be left up to, who else, President Obama. If all these dates and players are making you seasick, I've included some e-dramamine in the form of a project time line below.

Construction of the facility, expected to produce enough electricity to power 400,000 homes, could begin next year and begin pumping megawatts by 2010 or 2011.


Timeline:

November 2001 - Cape Wind applies for a permit with the Army Corps of Engineers

October 2002 - Voters in Cape Cod and the surrounding islands support the project 55% to 35% (presumably the other 15% were utterly baffled by the term 'offshore wind farm')

November 2004 - Army Corps of Engineers completes draft Environmental Impact Statement

May 2005 - After 32 months and 2,900 pages of transcripts, the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board approves connection of electric cables to the state's electric transmission system

July 2005 - Energy Policy Act tranfers offshore wind farm authority to the Minerals Management Service (MMS)

April 2006 - Opponents of the project attach an amendment to a Coast Guard reauthorization bill, which would give the Massachusetts governor the power to veto the Cape Wind project.

June 2006 - The amendment is stripped from the Coast Guard bill the legislation passes Congress.

July 2006 - Survey finds that 81% of Massachusetts residents and 61% of Cape area residents are in favor of the project.

October 2007 - Cape Cod Commission denies Cape Wind's application to bury electric cables

March 2008 - 87% of MA residents and 74% of Cape area residents are in favor of building the Cape Wind facility

January 2009 - Minerals Management Services completes favorable final Environmental Impact Statement

March 2009 - The siting board grants broad permit for burying electric cables.