By Mark J. Perry

Before we become too hopeful about the prospects of using offshore wind power as a fuel source of the future, let’s not forget that government data shows that offshore wind power cannot survive in a competitive environment without huge taxpayer subsidies.

Today, wind power receives subsidies greater than any other form of energy per unit of actual energy produced.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a key member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, says that public subsidies for wind on a per megawatt-hour basis are 26 times those for fossil fuels and 16 times those for nuclear power.

Alexander estimates that the production tax credit over the next decade will cost American taxpayers more than $26 billion.

The tax credit gives $23 for every megawatt-hour of electricity a wind turbine generates during the first 10 years of operation.