Buzzards Bay residents plagued night-and-day by four Future Generation wind turbines operating on Mann cranberry bog in South Plymouth have returned to the Bourne Board of Health seeking intervention and relief. The board, however, says its jurisdiction does not extend across the town line. The board has been legally advised not to consider out-of-town matters already adjudicated by the Barnstable Superior Court.

Impact on People Massachusetts

In response to feedback from fishermen and community members, Bay State Wind has revised the turbine layout pattern for its Massachusetts offshore wind project.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

When he spoke to fishermen across the pond, he learned they were wary of navigating between the turbines. “If the little boats are afraid to go in there, there’s no way a trawler from New Bedford is going to go in there,” Hansen said.

Offshore Wind Safety USA Massachusetts

"The fishing industry can only hope that the wind energy developers finally recognize that U.S. fishermen are going to do whatever is necessary to continue to fish where they please for the foreseeable future," Dave Wallace, a Maryland-based consultant for the ocean clam industry, said in an email. "Developers have two choices, a confrontational way, which is time-consuming and expensive, or through the two industries finding common grounds where both can survive and prosper."

Offshore Wind USA Massachusetts

The Vineyard Wind project is split into two, 400-megawatt phases, with the first phase scheduled for completion by January 15, 2022, and the second phase by January 15, 2023. The price for energy and the environmental attributes (called renewable energy credits) starts at 7.4 cents a kilowatt hour in phase one and 6.5 cents a kilowatt hour in phase two. The prices escalate at 2.5 percent a year over the 20-year life of the contract, with an average blended cost of 8.9 cents a kilowatt hour.

Taxes & Subsidies Offshore Wind Massachusetts

BOSTON - Just like two years ago, the Legislature is poised to consider a substantial piece of clean energy legislation on the final day of formal sessions.

Energy Policy Massachusetts

A plan by offshore power company Vineyard Wind to bring a high-wattage cable through Lewis Bay and onshore in West Yarmouth is energizing residents, who say that no amount of compensation is worth the damage the project could potentially inflict. “This is not about money,” West Yarmouth resident David Bernstein said at Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, which was devoted primarily to public comment on the project. “I don’t care if Vineyard Wind gives $10 million a year to the town of Yarmouth. If the bay is killed, it is killed.”

Impact on People Offshore Wind Transmission Massachusetts

The town's Zoning Board of Appeals voted to affirm a building inspector's decision to reject a building permit for five turbines on West Hill talked about since 2005. The vote closes the door for now on an effort by for Minuteman Wind LLC to bring a large-scale wind project to this town in northeastern Berkshire County.

Zoning/Planning Massachusetts

On April 5, Building Inspector Phil Delorey rejected the company's application for authorization to begin work to erect five turbines on West Hill, near the Hawley line, on land owned by Harold "Butch" Malloy. Though the project won backing from residents in 2008, sentiment has swung fully against wind energy in Savoy. Residents late last year voided a bylaw allowing commercial wind projects.

General Massachusetts

Given that everyone from Republican Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to Democratic Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke have all been vocal in their support for offshore wind power, the question is not if more wind farms will be built, it is if they will be built in a way that works for fishermen — commercial and recreational alike.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

CCE is a state program that encourages cities and towns to enable their residents to choose more renewable sources like water and wind for their electricity, if they want, while staying with the same electric company—Eversource in Boston....Blackmon said he is quite worried about that monetary element of the clean energy program.

General Massachusetts

General Massachusetts

General Massachusetts

Cape Wind has applied for a permit to dismantle its nearly 200-foot meteorological tower on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers confirmed last week. “The Corps is currently reviewing the permit application and anticipates a permit decision no later than mid-June 2018.”  

General Massachusetts

An eight-year legal battle between the town and residents who live near two controversial wind turbines at the municipal wastewater treatment plant off Blacksmith Shop Road has been brought to a close with the recent settlement of three remaining court cases involving monetary damages.

Legal Massachusetts

Offshore Wind Energy Policy Massachusetts

While the Zoning Board of Appeals made no decision Tuesday night, its chairman and several members hinted that they are leaning against overturning a building inspector's decision to deny the company a crucial permit. ...Minuteman Wind will have one more chance to persuade members of the panel to overturn Building Inspector Phil Delorey's April 5 rejection of its application for a building permit. 

Zoning/Planning Massachusetts

Scituate selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday night to award a contract for conducting an acoustical study of the Scituate Wind turbine to Epsilon Associates as an independent consultant. The Maynard-based company has performed similar testing in Massachusetts, and other states, and has worked with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), according to Al Bangert, special projects director.

Impact on People Noise Massachusetts

Last week, Massachusetts announced the winner of a new offshore wind contract — which means the Bay State is about to get its first offshore wind farm. The Vineyard Wind project will be located at least a dozen miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and is expected to generate 800 megawatts of energy — enough to power 400,000 homes. Vineyard Wind is aiming for 2021 to be up and operational.

Energy Policy Massachusetts

Massachusetts and Rhode Island have announced offshore wind projects aimed at delivering a combined 1,200 megawatts of energy, enough to power 400,000 homes.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts Rhode Island