Barnstable Town Council reins in offshore wind projects, pausing further action for now 

With the future of Avangrid’s Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind projects in limbo after the offshore wind developer backed out of previously negotiated power purchase agreements in two states, members of the Barnstable Town Council are reining in further action related to the projects, for now.

The board voted unanimously not only to pull back their prior authorization for Town Manager Mark Ells to begin negotiating a host community agreement for Commonwealth Wind, but also to postpone officially signing off on certain easements for Park City Wind until the projects’ status is resolved.

Council President Matthew Levesque said he and other town leaders have been keeping close tabs on developments with the projects with increasing disquietude, and he acknowledged there’s been “a big outcry” from residents as well – an outcry that’s led the council to agree to schedule a community meeting, with the date, time and place presently under discussion.

The substation rises out of the water as a cable laying vessel works alongside it during a day long visit out to Avangrid’s Vineyard Wind site south of Martha’s Vineyard in August. Two more Avangrid wind projects, Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind, are in limbo. Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times

“I’ve had concern about this for some time,” he said, addressing the matter at the council’s Oct. 5 meeting.

The council acted just a couple of days after Avangrid announced it was terminating its Connecticut contract following a failed attempt to renegotiate terms for its 804-megawatt Park City Wind Project. In March, the company similarly pulled out of its contract in Massachusetts for its 1,200 megawatt Commonwealth Wind project in favor of taking its chances with seeking a new agreement, under better terms, in the state’s fourth wind procurement round, now underway.

According to the company, the projects have been troubled by supply chain issues, expenses tied to the war in Ukraine, inflation and rising interest rates that have all resulted in higher overall costs that were not offset by the previous agreements completed before the economic situation went south.

Avangrid is eyeing Barnstable’s Craigville Beach to land power cables for its Park City Wind project, and Dowses Beach as a landing site for cables from Commonwealth Wind.

Town attorney: Regarding Commonwealth Wind, ‘the circumstances have changed.’

Town attorney Karen Nober outlined the reasoning behind both council resolutions to press the proverbial pause button on the board’s dealings with the projects.

In November last year, she said, the council gave the green light for Ells to enter host community agreement negotiations, when the time came, for the Commonwealth Wind project. At the time, she said, there was a power purchase agreement in place with Massachusetts, but the company “has since defaulted on that agreement and paid a financial penalty for doing that.”

While Avangrid is now a bidder for a new contract for that project, Nober said it has not yet been selected. Bids are due by the end of January, and the state Energy Facilities Siting Board is expected to render decisions in June.

“The circumstances have changed from last year when the council authorized the commencement of negotiations, and they’ve changed as a result of actions taken by Commonwealth Wind,” she said.

Nober said revoking that authorization can be done without legal ramifications because there haven’t been any conversations with Avangrid about a host community agreement as yet.

While not part of the council’s decision with regard to Commonwealth Wind, Ells also pointed out town leaders’ concerns with details in the project’s draft environmental impact report, for which he said the town submitted “extensive comments” to the state Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs.

“At this time, given what we’ve seen in the DEIR, we do not support the project moving forward,” Ells said.

Holding off on easements for Park City Wind

The council’s action with regard to Park City Wind is a bit more complicated since the town has already negotiated a host community agreement.

Even though Nober said the town entered that agreement “in large part because Park City Wind had a power purchase agreement in place with the Connecticut utilities,” the pact does not require one; however, it does “require that Park City Wind obtain all necessary permits, the most important of which is the approval from the state Energy Facilities Siting Board.”

Though she said it remains to be seen what Connecticut will do next, “it seems likely that they’ll undertake a new bid process just like Massachusetts is doing.”

“So, based on that, our recommendation is that the town hold off on granting the easements while that EFSB decision is pending,” she said.

Avangrid staying its course

Despite the setbacks, company officials remain optimistic about finding a path forward.

“Avangrid values our collaborative partnership with the town of Barnstable, and we look forward to building on our good working relationship with the town in the months and years ahead as we work to bring these critical renewable energy projects to the New England grid,” said Avangrid spokesman Craig Gilvarg in an email on Monday, responding to the council’s Oct. 5 actions.

Starting with the first-in-the-nation, 806-megawatt Vineyard Wind 1 project, he said, “we plan to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue and other economic benefits to the town for decades to come while delivering significant clean energy, jobs, and transformational economic investments to the region.”

Vineyard Wind 1, which has already landed power cables at Barnstable’s Covells Beach, began erecting turbines in offshore waters this summer. It was expected to begin delivering the first of its power this fall and to be fully operational by mid-2024.

Residents weigh in

Residents who’ve raised their own concerns about the projects had mixed reactions to the council’s Oct. 5 votes.

Bob Schulte, first vice president of the Centerville Civic Association, said he and others were “mildly encouraged” by the board’s actions but “remain wary” and “fully expect that Avangrid will attempt to proceed full steam ahead with its plans for both Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind in spite of the fact they have defaulted on and no longer have power purchase agreements for either project.”

Susanne Conley, a leading member of the Save Greater Dowses Beach group, said she was not as impressed with the council’s vote to withdraw their permission to negotiate a host community agreement for Commonwealth Wind as she was with Ells’ statement that the town doesn’t support the project as presently proposed.

“That was a big step forward in helping to save Dowses and local streets from three years of construction and possible environmental damage,” she said.

The town’s response to Avangrid’s Draft Environmental Impact Report on the project, she said, “shared many of our group’s concerns and then some.”

Meanwhile, Maria and Greg Gerdy on Monday said via email that they don’t think the council went far enough with regard to Commonwealth Wind.

“The Town Council merely revoked the authorization (for negotiating a host community agreement) – which authorization can be granted again in the future,” they noted.

“It gave a whiff of ‘leaving the door open’ to the offshore wind developer. This weak move should instead have been: the Town of Barnstable via the Town Council has closed its doors to the developer and is no longer interested in any future negotiations,” they wrote.