Barnstable, Avangrid forge 'side agreement' that lays path forward for offshore wind plan

Barnstable has forged a deal with Avangrid Renewables that provides money and other concessions to the town and lifts a hold on granting easements allowing the company to move forward on its planned 791-megawatt New England Wind 1 project, formerly called Park City Wind.

The additional terms included as a "side agreement" to the previously penned host community agreement were announced at the June 27 Town Council meeting after weeks of closed door meetings.

The unveiling touched off mixed reactions, from anger and disappointment to words of support, from residents gathered to hear the presentation, which was tacked on at the start of the meeting before the customary public comment section in order to give residents a chance to weigh in.

Town gains 'significant' extra benefits

Town Attorney Karen Nober said under the side agreement reached last week the town will provide the company with the easements to land power transmission cables at Craigville Beach and route them under the Centerville River and to a new proposed substation at the former Knights Inn site on Shootflying Hill Road by way of the village's Main Street — a plan that has left many villagers upset and worrying about how it will affect their businesses, library, museum and historic homes along the route.

Also, as part of the agreement, she said, "the town will receive significant additional protections and benefits."

Uncertain about the project's status, the council last October had voted unanimously to postpone officially signing off on the easements. That was done after company withdrew from its negotiated power purchase deal with Connecticut because of changing market conditions. The company is seeking a new contract under better terms through the current multi-state bidding process.

Nober said the terms of the side agreement were presented to the council in executive session on June 13, and the members voted 7-5 to direct Town Manager Mark Ells to finalize and enter into the supplemental pact. Council President Felicia Penn and councilors John Crow, Betty Ludtke, Craig Tamash and Kristin Terkelsen all voted against the agreement while councilors Charles Bloom, Seth Burdick, Kris Clark, Matthew Levesque, Jeffrey Mendes, Paula Schnepp, and Gordon Starr supported it. Councilor Paul Neary was not present.

For now, the easements will be placed in escrow pending the company receiving a bid award in the multi-state procurement, Nober said. Awards are anticipated in August. Release of the easements is also "subject to Park City Wind's parent company, Avangrid Renewables, providing a corporate guarantee, at which point — but not until then — Park City Wind may record the easements," she said.

An opportunity to address concerns

Nober said in the last year or so, Barnstable residents and businesses "have raised a host of concerns about the Park City Wind project and its potential impacts, some of which were not anticipated when the host community agreement was originally negotiated."

The delay in the project, she explained, gave the town a chance to talk with Park City Wind to see if they could handle some of those concerns.

Last November, the town hired an outside law firm, Anderson & Krieger, to negotiate with the company. The result, she said, "addresses many of the concerns raised by Barnstable residents and businesses."

Agreement provisions outlined

Colin Van Dyke, a managing partner at Anderson & Krieger, outlined the provisions of the side agreement at the June 27 council session.

"Park City Wind has made significant additional commitments to give the town more clarity, more control, more reasons to be confident that it will be protected from anticipated and unanticipated impacts from the project," he said.

Some of provisions are:

• The company will compensate businesses and cultural institutions along the project route that are hurt by the project.
• The company will pay the town a lump sum of $16 million when it closes on construction financing for the project, instead of spreading that over the 25-year life of the project.
• The company will provide $5.5 million to the town to improve roadways and sidewalks along the public ways impacted by the project, and will provide another $2.4 million to cover additional sewer construction costs the town may incur to ensure that there is adequate separation between the town sewer lines and transmission lines.
• Parent company Avangrid Renewables LLC will provide a guarantee of up to $30 million for payments or reimbursements required by the host community agreement.
• Before the easements are awarded, the company must receive a bid award, and the guarantee from Avangrid Renewables has to be delivered to the town. If a bid award is not granted by Dec. 15, 2026, which is the date when the company's Energy Facilities Siting Board approval expires, the easements will automatically terminate. Also, if a bid award is granted, and the easements are released but the construction has not commenced by Dec. 15, 2026, the easements will terminate.

The side agreement also has to be ratified and approved by the Avangrid Renewables board.

Residents respond

Public opinion about the side agreement is sharply divided.

Resident Pete Sampou supports the project, saying offshore wind is an important component of the state and nation's climate change response. Having it come ashore in Barnstable, he said, "is a big win for our town and all the benefit it brings to us."

Resident Cliff Carroll is among those who worry about plans to build a substation that would store hundreds of thousands of gallons of dielectric transformer oils over a sole source aquifer and uphill from many homes on private wells, a backup well field and Lake Wequaquet.

"I think it's almost disgusting this outcome, but we're going to keep fighting," Carroll said.

"The town just handed them the keys to the city. This is becoming the town of Avangrid," he said. "Awful."

Susanne Conley called the side agreement "a gut punch" and believes the town has "sold out the health and safety of the people of Barnstable." The town has told Avangrid to "go ahead and take Craigville Beach, one of the biggest economic drivers of this town.," she said.

"The fight is not over," she said

Councilors weigh in

A few of the town councilors responded after hearing from residents on June 27.

Councilor Kris Clark said she believes the deal "is the best way forward" and praised Barnstable negotiators "for the town of Barnstable "who did a magnificent job of leveraging some benefits for the town that weren't on the table prior to that."

Fellow Councilor Matthew Levesque said that he appreciates the council members' courage "to vote the way they did because it was not an easy decision to make, and I believe that everybody tried to do the best they could with the facts that were put in front of them."

Councilor John Crow is among those who feels the agreement "is not a win."

"This is a travesty. It's a complete failure of public policy from here to Boston in my opinion. These substations do not have to land, and the power lines don't have to land on beaches," he said.

He also feels the town is getting "fleeced" with the promise of $16 million. He pointed at an agreement between Sunrise Wind and Brookhaven, Long Island that gave that community $170 million over the life of the project.

"It's just a shame all around. We're taking the cheapest way out. Avangrid is doing that getting the cheapest route from where they're coming," Crow said.

Councilor Betty Ludtke agreed.

"I think we've given away our treasure and I agree we've handed them this contract on a silver platter," she said. The process has "been flawed since day one, that's why I voted no on it."

What Avangrid has to say

Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra said company leaders are "pleased to reaffirm the Host Community Agreement that ensures the town and the entire region will benefit from the development of our New England Wind 1 project."

The side agreement, the company said, "provides several additional direct benefits to the town of Barnstable, community mitigation efforts towards future construction of the New England Wind 1 project, and robust health and safety measures for construction and operation of the project."

Heather McCarron can be reached at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.