Wind Power News: Connecticut
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Connecticut Port Authority approves revised wind energy plan for State Pier in New London
When the meeting began, board chair David Kooris began the roll call. At the same time, Kevin Blacker, of Noank, stood and addressed the board, stating that he wouldn’t leave until forcibly removed. “I am protesting the Connecticut Port Authority, their repeated breaking of the law, exclusion of the public, secretive dealing and I’m not leaving the floor until I’m arrested and in handcuffs,” Blacker said. “I’ll just continue to stand here and disrupt this meeting until that time, as you have repeatedly broken the law, over and over and over and this is what it has come to.” Complete story »
Lamont signs New London harbor deal as quasi-public debate heats up
While Gov. Ned Lamont announced a landmark deal Tuesday to develop New London harbor and an offshore wind center, the partisan battle over Connecticut’s quasi-publics – including the entity overseeing this project – intensified. Lamont announced Eversource and its Denmark-based partner, Ørsted North America, will transform New London into the green energy capital of the Northeast as part of a deal unanimously ratified by the Connecticut Port Authority’s oversight board. A few hours earlier, though, Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, . . . Complete story »
Connecticut Port Authority approves plan to turn State Pier into wind hub
Hartford – The board of the Connecticut Port Authority unanimously has approved a $157 million dollar redevelopment plan to transform State Pier into a staging area for the offshore wind industry. The vote took place at a special meeting Tuesday. At a news conference later in the day, Gov. Ned Lamont and the principals involved in negotiating the public-private redevelopment said it sets up New London and the state of Connecticut as key players in the burgeoning offshore wind industry in . . . Complete story »
Pier remake could cost state three times $93 million estimate
Tuesday morning, Gov. Ned Lamont plans what I would have to call the most egregious overreach of executive power and assault on open public governing I’ve ever seen. And I’m old. It’s hard to know exactly what will unfold at a special meeting today of the board of Lamont’s stepchild, the corrupt and dysfunctional Connecticut Port Authority, because the governor, incredibly, won’t disclose the deals he plans for them to vote on. An agenda for the meeting posted late Friday . . . Complete story »
Connecticut Port Authority board to vote on $157 million redevelopment plan
A projected $157 million plan to redevelop State Pier into a staging area for the offshore wind industry will be voted on by the Connecticut Port Authority at a special meeting in Hartford Tuesday. The plan, which has been the subject of negotiations for 18 months, would entail offshore wind developers Ørsted and Eversource, known jointly as North East Offshore, or NEO, subleasing State Pier from Gateway, the current pier operator, for a minimum of 10 years to use the . . . Complete story »
The rising cost of Lamont’s State Pier plan is secret
I don’t know which is worse, the fact that Gov. Ned Lamont is planning in secret to spend probably millions of dollars more than the $35 million already promised for its share of a rebuild of State Pier for exclusive use by a rich Danish conglomerate, or that Connecticut lawmakers don’t seem to care. Worse, it appears the governor is agreeing to a blank check for overruns on a project first estimated at $93 million. Is the sky the limit? . . . Complete story »
When public business is done behind closed doors
Nothing puts a journalistr’s antenna up faster than when it appears some public official is trying to hide something. That’s exactly what was going on last winter, when the Connecticut Port Authority, we now know, was hatching a grand plan, in secret, to drastically remake the historic port of New London, filling in seven acres of the river between the two existing piers, one a stone 19th Century structure on the National Register of Historic Places. The extensive $93 million . . . Complete story »
‘We traded green for green.’ Controversial solar array built on Simsbury farmland now producing power
The Tobacco Valley project was initially opposed in 2016 by both the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and this state’s Department of Agriculture because of the potential loss of farmland. The only reason the huge solar array was eventually approved was that it had the support of Massachusetts and Rhode Island under an unusual three-state compact designed to promote regional renewable energy. Complete story »
Can lawmakers pry out port authority secrets at this week’s hearing?
The state’s Democratic establishment has been busy sitting on the rattling lid of the Connecticut Port Authority scandals, as they have been roiling since summer. One valiant effort by Gov. Ned Lamont’s port authority to contain the scandals was an offer of hush money to Gerri Lewis, the authority’s fired office manager – $5,000 if she would sign a deal prohibiting her from talking to the news media. Lewis declined the offer and her one subsequent public statement on port authority . . . Complete story »
Turbine spacing proposal irks fishing industry
The commercial fishing industry is saying “Not so fast” regarding the proposal by five offshore wind leaseholders to institute a one nautical mile of spacing between wind turbines for upcoming development in the New England region. The turbine spacing would be arranged in a north, south, east and west uniformed grid formation pattern. The problem is: for safety purposes, the commercial fishing industry says it needs more spacing to conduct its business, noting that up to four nautical miles of . . . Complete story »
