Energy Musings contains articles and analyses dealing with important issues and developments within the energy industry, including historical perspective, with potentially significant implications for executives planning their companies’ future.
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July 14, 2023
SouthCoast Wind Paused But Not By Lies
Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board pauses SouthCoast Wind cable approval process until late 2024 over financial uncertainty and not potential management lies to the board. READ MORE
Renewables Make New England Electricity Expensive
New England electricity prices have climbed rapidly despite power consumption falling. The cost of meeting renewable energy mandates is driving those rapid price increases. READ MORE
Tale Of Whale Deaths Not Pleasant Reading
From December 1 to July 12, whale deaths off the East Coast totaled 56, or about eight a month, yet government regulators continue ignoring the possibility of a link to offshore wind construction. READ MORE
SouthCoast Wind Paused But Not By Lies
Recently, it came to light that a staff member of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) sent an email to the administrator for the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) claiming that the testimony of representatives of SouthCoast Wind at its June 12 show-cause hearing included several lies. The nature of the claims and how they arrived required the EFSB to notify all parties involved and make the email public. At the end of the day, it wasn’t this controversy but rather the uncertain future for the project that sank its transmission cable permit application.
On Thursday, the EFSB voted unanimously to pause the cable application process until October 1, 2024, to give SouthCoast Wind time to secure new power purchase agreements (PPA) to finance the $5 billion, 804-megawatt (MW), 147 wind turbine project assuming it is selected in Massachusetts’ next offshore wind auction. It was this uncertain status that convinced the three EFSB members that it was inappropriate to use the agency’s limited resources to process the application only to have the project fail to secure new PPAs and be built.