Last Thursday the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) voted in favor of issuing Cape Wind Associates a “super permit,” a composite certificate that encompasses nine outstanding state and local approvals related to electric cables.

The EFSB instructed Cape Wind to work with the seaside towns of Yarmouth and Barnstable in order to agree on “reasonable and customary conditions” for permits for burying electric cables. If an agreement is not reached, the board will intervene and decide upon reasonable conditions.

If formally approved, the certificate, which will receive a final vote by EFSB within sixty days, will officially conclude Cape Wind’s permitting at both the state and local levels. In doing so the measure would effectively trump the Cape Cod Commission procedural denial of the Cape Wind project. Without missing a beat, the Cape Cod Commission fired back with claims that the state board lacks the jurisdiction to overturn its previous denial of the project. This marks the second time in the past two years that the Energy Facilities Siting Board has asserted its authority over the regional planning and regulatory agency.

Eddie Keenan IV

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