The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved multibillion dollar offshore wind contracts with Vineyard Wind on Friday and, over the objections of Attorney General Maura Healey, authorized the state’s three utilities to collect an additional $168 million from ratepayers just for carrying the contracts on their books.

Taxes & Subsidies Offshore Wind Massachusetts

“None of us are against wind turbines,” Lipaj said. “We’re saying because this project has such huge ramifications for Lake Erie forever that we just need to slow this thing down and research this the right way.” A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field inspector in a 2017 letter also pushed for an environmental impact statement, urging “an analysis of the potential cumulative impacts of facilitating accelerated development of utility-scale wind power in Lake Erie.”

Offshore Wind Ohio

While environmentalists have long exclaimed the benefits of offshore wind turbines, new research suggests that ambitious plans to produce more offshore wind power must overcome several obstacles before they are realistic.

Offshore Wind USA

Officials said the first priority is to secure approval from the Department of Public Utilities for the RFP, then ask for company responses by August, and award the contract or contracts in November – allowing just enough time to take advantage of the 12 percent federal investment tax credit that expires at the end of 2019.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

“Turbines are magnets for lightning which is why they are fitted with conductors to transfer the energy to the ground but they can  cause significant damage. Blades can explode; generators and control system electronics can incinerate. “The repair of lightning damage can be dangerous and expensive.

Offshore Wind Safety Structural Failure UK

The dream of Morro Bay as a new hub of offshore renewable energy production in California could be over before it even gets its sea legs — or it could just be ramping up. ...State and San Luis Obispo County leaders say they’ve been informed the Navy will likely recommend against building potential wind farms off the coast of Morro Bay and Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, something that could effectively sink hopes for the North Coast to be a new hub of renewable energy.

Offshore Wind Safety California

In a March 15 letter, Michael Pentony, the head of the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, warned that the report on Vineyard Wind completed by the U.S Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in December included conclusions that were not well supported by data and needed additional analysis of several key angles of impact.

Impact on Wildlife Offshore Wind USA Massachusetts

Development of offshore wind energy over the next decade would enable Ireland embrace an electric future and decarbonise its heat, transport and industry, according to SSE Ireland managing director Stephen Wheeler.

Offshore Wind Ireland

The March 12 Vineyard Wind public forum at Barnstable Town Hall gave residents a chance to question company officials.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

To me, these three proposed wind farms are a money grab, business venture with taxpayers on the hook. There is nothing Vineyard about Vineyard Wind. I wonder how many of the company executives own electric cars, stopped flying, or practice what they preach. A few people are going to make a lot of money, and a lot of us are going to pay for it.

Offshore Wind Transmission Massachusetts

As Massachusetts gets ready to issue its second request for offshore wind proposals, the state is weighing whether to speed up its procurement process to allow developers to reap federal tax benefits. Energy developers and environmental groups are encouraging the state to launch the solicitation as soon as next month.

Taxes & Subsidies Offshore Wind Massachusetts

An assemblyman is right in saying Long Island should be viewed as a community, not a commodity, by offshore wind companies.

Offshore Wind New York

The only part of Vineyard Wind’s proposed offshore wind farm in Nantucket waters is an undersea cable running from the turbines 14 miles southwest of the island through the Muskeget Channel to Covell’s Beach in Centerville. But fisherman Dan Pronk is worried that the impact the 84 turbines would have on the underwater ecosystem and the fishing industry is tremendous. “There’s nothing good about it,” he said.

Offshore Wind USA Massachusetts

When Vineyard Wind won the state’s first round of bidding for offshore energy contracts last year, the developer pleasantly surprised just about everyone with its super-low price.

Offshore Wind Massachusetts

In a unanimous vote at the special meeting, the Fishermen’s Advisory Board accepted the new offer that includes $4.2 million in payments over 30 years for direct impacts to commercial fishermen from Vineyard Wind’s 84-turbine wind farm proposed in Rhode Island Sound, as well as the creation of a $12.5-million trust set up over five years that could be used to cover additional costs to fishermen resulting from the project.

Offshore Wind USA Rhode Island

The lease of an offshore wind power project can be cancelled if it is found to be “causing environmental damage to both flora and fauna beneath the sea and posing threat to human life and property while carrying out the activities under water and operation of the wind energy turbines during validity of the lease.” The draft rules also contemplate powers to the Centre to order closure of a wind farm pending an inquiry within a reasonable period if it finds “operation of the wind turbines is causing damage to environment or damage to property or pollution.”

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A public hearing for Vineyard Wind’s proposed undersea cables that would run through Edgartown waters was cut off abruptly after several heated exchanges at a Martha’s Vineyard Commission meeting Thursday night.

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Rich Fuka, spokesperson for the Rhode Island Fishermen's Alliance, when asked how to balance out the need for renewable energy versus the needs of the fishing industry in Rhode Island, responded by saying, "That's my favorite question. You let the real players, real stakeholders, sit at the table and say, “Look, here's what we have for a fishing industry. Can you move those windmills out further across from the squid stocks?' The answer is: it's not cost effective."

Offshore Wind Rhode Island

A proposal for Australia's first offshore wind farm in Victoria's east has been significantly delayed due to a lack of regulatory framework, but the Maritime Union of Australia is accusing the Government of having a "blind hatred" for renewable energy.

Offshore Wind Australia

Deepwater Wind, once poised to introduce offshore generated wind to the continental United States and specifically East Hampton, is mired down in a review process fueled by considerable community opposition. Its much-ballyhooed project, slated to land in Wainscott in 2022, may well be dead in the water, though no one associated with the company is saying as much.

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