New England Wind I and II moving ahead

I applaud the marine life studies highlighted by Emelia Pettit in her July 9 opinion piece, How CT is leading the charge in sustainable wind energy . Supporting responsible offshore wind deployment based on informed, science-based decision making is a core value of the New England for Offshore Wind coalition, for which Save the Sound serves as Connecticut State Lead.

While Pettit’s article was a welcome reminder of the importance of developing our renewable energy resources, I would like to make a small clarification on the status of the Park City Wind project, which Pettit noted as being terminated.

While it is true that the power purchase agreement for the Park City project was cancelled, the project itself is still on track. It was renamed New England Wind I and its developer submitted the project to Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island under their recent tri-state offshore wind solicitation, for which we expect bid selections in early August.

On April 2, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a Record of Decision documenting its approval of New England Wind I and its companion project, New England Wind II, formerly known as Commonwealth Wind. And on July 1, the two projects received final federal approval for their construction and operations plans, making them effectively ready to enter the construction phase as soon as a power purchase agreement is signed with one or more of the states involved with the current offshore wind solicitation.

As Ms. Pettit said, CT is positioned to continue its leadership in sustainability, and one way it can do that is by adding to the state’s offshore wind portfolio in support of Connecticut’s zero-carbon strategy for 2040. We look forward to a successful outcome for all the project bidders in August.

Charles Rothenberger of Mystic is a Climate and Energy Attorney at Save the Sound .