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Wind Power News: Rhode Island
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort 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.
Preservation Society files lawsuit to fight massive wind farms and preserve historic and pristine views from industrial-scale development
The Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island’s largest and nationally respected steward of historic preservation, has appealed federal agency decisions approving massive wind farms off the coast of Rhode Island. The appeals were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on November 22, 2023 and detail how the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) failed to comply with the heightened levels of review required under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation . . . Complete story »
One of RI’s top environmentalists is suing to block offshore wind project
Trudy Coxe, the former head of Save the Bay and once the top environmental official in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, dropped a bombshell on Wednesday afternoon. In her role as the head of the Newport Preservation Society (NPS), Coxe announced that her organization has filed a massive federal lawsuit to block the construction the offshore wind project off the coast of Rhode Island. NPS manages the public-facing mansions in Newport, such as The Breakers and Rosecliff, to name a few. . . . Complete story »
Anti-wind farm group sues R.I. coastal agency over Revolution Wind approval
Green Oceans, the Rhode Island citizens group that fiercely opposes offshore wind farms, is in the midst of a civil lawsuit it has filed against the state Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), claiming the council violated the constitution, state regulations, and its own responsibilities when it approved the Revolution Wind farm in May. The lawsuit, being heard in Newport Superior Court, asks the court to vacate the CRMC’s decision, which, in effect, declared that the wind farm conforms to the . . . Complete story »
State governors seeking federal help for offshore wind industry
A group of U.S. governors is calling on the Biden administration to help ease the “extraordinary economic challenges” that have combined to threaten not only future offshore wind development, but also the number of projects that are already under way. In a letter submitted to the White House, the governors of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island say “inflationary pressures, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering supply-chain disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic” have resulted . . . Complete story »
RI fishermen’s board resigns en masse over Biden admin–backed offshore wind farm: ‘Wholesale ocean destruction’
A plan backed by the Biden administration to OK a string of wind farms off Rhode Island has prompted every member of a fishing regulatory board in the state to resign. The entire Rhode Island Fisherman’s Advisory Board quit en masse Friday to protest the 84-turbine Sunrise Wind project after the state’s Coastal Resources Management Council approved the third offshore wind farm in two years off the Ocean State’s waters. The project falls under President Biden‘s executive order authorizing his . . . Complete story »
CRMC Fisherman’s Advisory Board resigns in protest
Rhode Island fishermen are sounding the alarm about offshore wind farms. Last week, the nine-member Fisherman’s Advisory Board to the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) resigned in protest of the council’s offshore wind approval process. Members of the now-defunct board claim the CRMC has abandoned the state’s Ocean Special Area Management Plan and sidelined the fishing industry in its race to meet renewable energy procurement goals with rapid and massive industrial-scale offshore wind development. Lanney Dellinger, a crab . . . Complete story »
Wind farm approval met with protest
The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) decision to approve Sunrise Wind’s 84-turbine offshore wind farm, 16 miles off the coast of Block Island, prompted CRMC Fisherman’s Advisory Board (FAB) member Richard Hittinger to resign in protest on Aug. 28, the same day the Council approved the project. Hittinger serves as vice president and first chair of the Rhode Island Saltwater Angler’s Association legislative committee, and he was the only representative of recreational fishing interests on the CRMC. He . . . Complete story »
RI Energy rejects plan for 1000MW offshore wind project
The state’s largest utility company has decided not to move forward with a massive offshore wind project in Rhode Island, arguing that rising costs have made the deal too expensive for ratepayers and out of line with state law. Rhode Island Energy, formerly known as National Grid Rhode Island, announced Tuesday it’s ending a long-term power purchase agreement proposal with offshore wind companies Orsted and Eversource. The plan would have allowed the energy group to move forward with a plan . . . Complete story »
Rhode Island puts pause on key part of offshore wind project
State regulators have hit the pause button on permitting for a transmission line that would run up the Sakonnet River from SouthCoast Wind’s large offshore wind farm proposed in ocean waters south of Martha’s Vineyard. The Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board voted unanimously on Thursday to stay the application process for the cable that SouthCoast Wind needs to deliver electricity to the mainland grid from its proposed $5-billion project that would power more than a million homes. What led . . . Complete story »
State engineer accuses SouthCoast Wind of lying to RI agencies
A member of the team that reviews offshore wind projects for Rhode Island’s coastal regulatory agency has accused SouthCoast Wind of lying to a separate state board about the company’s $5-billion proposal to install nearly 150 wind turbines south of Martha’s Vineyard. David Ciochetto, an ocean engineer with the state Coastal Resources Management Council, said the joint venture between Shell and Ocean Winds made false statements about its offshore wind project in written testimony to the Rhode Island Energy Facility . . . Complete story »
