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.
Eversource eyes potential big payday to back out of CT wind farm
Eversource Energy is soliciting buyers for its share of the long-planned Revolution Wind offshore energy project. Revolution Wind is one of two major wind farms planned off the southern New England coast that would generate electricity for Connecticut. The other project is the Park City Wind farm in the works by Orange-based Avangrid. Park City Wind construction will be staged primarily out of Bridgeport. Connecticut is counting on both projects to meet statutory goals it has set to cut carbon . . . Complete story »
Connecticut solar developer expands lawsuit against offshore wind projects
The solar developer suing in federal court to overturn approvals for the country’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm is now taking aim at a second project. Thomas Melone, president of Allco Renewable Energy, in February amended his complaint against the Vineyard Wind project to also call into question government approvals for South Fork Wind, a smaller project with different owners. Vineyard Wind’s 62 turbines are to be located about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, the island community where . . . Complete story »
Connecticut’s State Pier was to be a world-class hub for offshore wind. Now it’s overdue, overbudget and under investigation
The ambitious plan to transform an aging New London pier into a hub for Connecticut’s offshore wind industry has long been besieged by delays and ballooning costs. When Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration announced in 2019 that it had reached a harbor development agreement to redevelop the dilapidated State Pier, the initial price tag was $93 million, and officials aimed to complete it by March 2022. Now, the project remains a year from completion, its estimated cost has swelled by 250%, . . . Complete story »
Watchdog: CT Port group lacked authority to launch partnership tied to offshore wind hub
The Connecticut Port Authority launched a public-private partnership tied to development of a major offshore wind-to-energy project without proper authority to do so, the State Contracting Standards Board concluded Friday. The watchdog agency also concluded that the $523,000 “success” fee the Connecticut Port Authority paid to a consulting firm closely tied to a former member is eerily similar to the “finder’s fees” scandal that sent a former state treasurer to prison in 2001. “This is just terrible in terms of . . . Complete story »
Vineyard Wind turbine farm draws CT fishing industry concern
The massive 804 megawatt Vineyard Wind turbine farm proposed for waters off Martha’s Vineyard is triggering concern about the impact on the state’s fishing industry. During a meeting Thursday of the Connecticut Commission on Environmental Standards, a collection of regulators, fisherman and politicians, some members suggested that pledged research funding be directed toward protecting fishermen. State Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton and a commission member, said she was particularly concerned about fisherman based in New London and Stonington. “One of my . . . Complete story »
New England council calls for offshore wind mitigation fund
The New England Fishery Management Council updated its offshore wind energy policy, endorsing calls for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to establish “a compensatory mitigation fund for damages that occur to the marine environment and fish habitat,” and losses to fishing vessels as turbine arrays are built. The council’s Dec. 7 deliberation came with a new presentation from BOEM on the agency’s push to review and approve up to 16 wind energy projects off the East Coast by late . . . Complete story »
Energy companies accused of bid rigging and racketeering in US lawsuit
A cybersecurity company filed a $110m lawsuit in New York this week, accusing the Spanish global energy company Iberdrola and its US subsidiary Avangrid of bid rigging and racketeering. The 72-page federal court complaint outlines an elaborate scheme by Iberdrola executives to generate millions of dollars in wasteful equipment expenditures in order to turn a profit from its utility customers in New York, Connecticut and Maine. The lawsuit further alleges that much of this equipment was never put to use . . . Complete story »
Wind energy cost increase a sign of what’s to come
Utility company Dominion recently reported a $2 billion increase on the price of their offshore wind project. The price increase was largely blamed on “commodity pressures” (inflation, i.e.: Shipping has more than doubled. Steel more than tripled.). Dominion also admitted initial cost estimates were based on incomplete design documents. This sounds alarmingly similar to the explanation Kosta Diamantis and the CT Port Authority gave in attempting to explain how costs to remake the State Pier in New London jumped from . . . Complete story »
Official downplay missed permit deadline for redeveloping State Pier
NEW LONDON – Representatives of the Connecticut Port Authority and the wind energy partnership between Eversource and Ørsted downplayed the significance of a delay in the permitting process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to redevelop State Pier. A dredging permit was expected before the end of August, but that timeline appears unlikely – raising the possibility that the project could exceed a budget that is already being tightly scrutinized by state lawmakers. Port Authority Executive Director John Henshaw said . . . Complete story »
New England solar developer’s legal wrangling draws praise, criticism
Thomas Melone is president of a Connecticut solar company. He is also a lawyer. And between the two, observers say, he is something of an enigma. As head of Allco Renewable Energy, Melone says his company’s corporate mission is to combat the devastating impacts of climate change. But he’s also filed multiple lawsuits challenging several states’ clean energy programs. He most recently made news by suing in federal court to have approvals overturned for Vineyard Wind – poised to be the . . . Complete story »
