Off Long Island, wind farms are testing the waters

New York

ONLY a few years ago, the long-held dream of harnessing the strong, steady gusts off the Atlantic coast to make electricity seemed destined to remain just that. Proposals for offshore wind farms foundered on the shoals of high costs, regulatory hurdles and the fierce opposition of those who didn't want giant industrial machinery puncturing the pristine ocean views.

Now the industry is poised to take off, just as the US political landscape and energy policy itself face perhaps the greatest uncertainty in a generation.

Last fall, five turbines in the waters of Rhode Island - the country's first offshore farm - began delivering power to the grid. European energy developers like Statoil and Dong Energy are making big i…