NARRAGANSETT, R.I. – Gov. Don Carcieri’s administration this week unveiled a report calling it feasible to build wind farms off the coast of Rhode Island as part of a plan to get 15 percent of the state’s energy from wind in five years.

Wind is plentiful in pockets along Narraganset Bay, and wind farms could supply much-needed energy to the Ocean State.

But in a region where other wind projects have met with opposition, and in a state that prizes its shoreline, there’s a lingering question over whether residents will support such a project.

“Is aesthetics going to be a problem for people? That’s the question. That’s really the only question,” said Andrew Dzykewicz, commissioner of the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources.

Energy experts agree that New England must find new energy sources to meet its growing demand. But the states have been reluctant to build new fossil-fuel electricity plants or embrace nuclear energy.

Aesthetic concerns have delayed a proposal to build more than 130 windmills, called Cape Wind, in Nantucket Sound for years.

Carcieri’s plan does not specifically endorse building wind turbines anywhere. But some of the most viable sites it identifies are located offshore from coastal tourist destinations like Block Island, Westerly, South Kingstown and Newport.

“Everybody says they love wind power, but what happens when you get specific?” said Eleftherios Pavlides, a professor and wind advocate at Roger Williams University in Bristol.

Reaction so far tends to be positive but guarded, especially without any firm plans to judge.

“The opportunity to produce clean, efficient energy is something we all have to embrace and should embrace,” said Keith Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce. “It’s going to come down to where it’s located.”

Wind power isn’t new technology around Newport, a colonial commercial center in Rhode Island. The area is already dotted with remnants of wind and grist mills, the earliest probably dating from the 17th century.

Building offshore windmills that interfered with Newport’s commercial or recreational boating lanes would be a non-starter, Stokes said. He believes Newport residents could consider structures that blended in with the natural surroundings.

Peter Catalano, a real estate developer in Westerly, said he believed windmill developers could probably cut deals with local communities that leave both sides satisfied.

For example, homeowners in Watch Hill, a Westerly enclave full of Victorian homes and multimillion-dollar seaside estates, are looking to get rid of their telephone poles, he said.

In return for burying those utility lines and improving the neighborhood view, Catalano suggested residents might be willing to cede some of the horizon to windmills.

“It all depends on how you phrase the question,” he said. “Put it in context of what the local issue might be and show a trade-off. I think you’re going to get more ‘yeses.”‘

Lennart Damsbo-Andersen, the former mayor of Nysted, Denmark, cautioned during a conference on wind power at the University of Rhode Island on Thursday that countries that have already embraced wind energy still must work to strike a balance between aesthetics and energy needs.

Flashing lights from a 72-turbine wind farm built about 15 miles away from his home used to light up his living room at night until he and other residents complained to the government. It took some lobbying, but he said the problem was eventually fixed.

“You have all sorts of technology,” Damsbo-Andersen remembered telling the wind farm developer. “You can build wind farms, put a man on the moon. Why can’t you turn these lights down?”