Louisiana Public Service Commission Interested in Offshore Wind

From News Briefs of Nola.com (12/21/03) comes this brief :

The Louisiana Public Service Commission will study the feasibility of generating electricity from wind turbines installed on dormant oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Commissioner Foster Campbell of Bossier City brought the idea to the PSC at its monthly meeting Wednesday in Baton Rouge. Lafayette conservationist and businessman Harold Schoeffler briefed the commission on the concept. He said wind energy is expanding in offshore locations in Europe and the United States and on land in Texas and California. Commissioners asked Schoeffler to educate the PSC and staff on the potential for offshore wind energy. Campbell said jobs in construction and other fields could be generated, and the power could be cheaper for ratepayers. PSC staff and Louisiana utility officials recently attended a conference organized by Schoeffler in Lafayette at which representatives of GE Wind Energy discussed using offshore oil platforms to erect wind turbines.