June 9, 2023 — A legislative committee on Wednesday approved a bill to boost offshore wind power.
The measure sets a goal for the Public Utilities Commission to contract for 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy installed by 2040.
NEW YORK: NY offshore wind developers also seek price relief
June 8, 2023 — MAJOR OFFSHORE wind developers in New York say their projects may no longer be financially viable unless regulators amend their power purchase agreements to include adjustments for inflation and interconnection costs.
In petitions filed with state regulators on Wednesday, the New York wind farm operators followed the same script as developers in Massachusetts, who say their projects have been overwhelmed by inflation, rising interest rates, supply chain disruption, and the war in Ukraine.
The Massachusetts developers initially sought to modify their existing power purchase agreements, but when that plea fell on deaf ears at the Department of Public Utilities they moved to terminate the agreements they signed last year and rebid the projects at higher prices in a procurement coming in 2024.
In New York, the developers are asking state regulators to agree to price adjustments in the existing contracts. They point out that New York has approved including similar price adjustments as part of the state’s third offshore wind procurement process, and now should retroactively apply them to contracts approved in the first two procurements.
NEW JERSEY: Offshore wind encounters turbulence over NJ
June 8, 2023 — The offshore wind industry’s troubles continue to pile up — not only in New Jersey but in neighboring states along the Eastern Seaboard.
On Wednesday, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Joseph Fiordaliso, perhaps one of the sector’s biggest advocates, let loose with an uncharacteristic rant at a developer in the emerging industry. Although he did not name the company, it was seen as a reference to Ørsted, which owns and is developing New Jersey’s initial offshore wind project.
Fiordaliso expressed frustration over repeated delays in moving forward with the project. “Your delays are intolerable,’’ he said. As was his custom, he had an offshore wind logo pinned on his suit.
“We cannot afford any more delays,’’ Fiordaliso said, adding there are no delays in the pace of climate change. “Some of the things that are being delayed are indefensible.’’
The agency, which is overseeing the state’s offshore wind efforts, also deferred action on a related issue that Brian Lipman, director of the Division of Rate Counsel, urged the regulators to delay. In a letter to the agency, Lipman said his office had no opportunity to assess the potential impact of a proposal to make changes in how the state connects electricity generated by the wind farms to the power grid.
MAINE: Maine bill to pay lobstermen to test new gear gets initial Senate approval
June 8, 2023 — A bill to help Maine lobstermen test new gear in preparation for potential federal restrictions meant to protect endangered right whales gained unanimous bipartisan approval in the Senate.
The bill seeks to set aside $1 million a year for the next two years to help lobstermen comply with federal regulations that could kick-in within six years.
The industry has faced intense pressure in recent years as federal officials have instituted restrictions to try to save the whales, which are believed to number fewer than 340.
Following the Senate vote on Tuesday, bill sponsor Sen. Eloise Vitelli (D-Arrowsic) said federal regulators have “targeted Maine’s lobster industry as a scapegoat.”
MASSACHUSETTS: Turbine blades arrive in New Bedford as second heavy load carrier navigates harbor
June 7, 2023 –A few hours after the UHL Felicity departed the Port of New Bedford to head back to Portugal, another blue-hulled heavy load carrier, RollDock Sky, eased through the hurricane barrier Tuesday morning, bringing more wind turbine parts (this time, blades) into port.
The foreign-flagged 460-foot vessel departed the Netherlands in May, and then stopped in Gaspe, Canada, to retrieve blades from General Electric’s manufacturing facility before coming to New Bedford.
A GE spokesperson said the vessel was carrying six blades. The 62-turbine project, with three bladers per tower, will require 186 in total. The carrier’s deck equipment obfuscated the 351-foot blades a bit, but four were visible atop the ship.
The movement of new parts comes a few days after the local longshoremen’s union reached a contract with Vineyard Wind. The union previously shut down work at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal — the project’s staging site — in protest of Vineyard Wind’s hiring practices. The strike started one day after the first turbine components arrived, and ended late last week.
Prior to the contract, 12 local longshoremen members had part-time positions for Vineyard Wind out of more than 300 union workers, most of which came from the Boston area. The new contract guarantees a 40-hour week for some workers and hires additional part-time longshoremen, The Light reported.
Read the full article at The New Bedford Light
NEW YORK: Trying to explain the whys of Long Island wind farms
June 5, 2023 — A group of experts attempted to explain to a large crowd at Long Beach’s City Hall last Wednesday the need for a plan by New York State to construct a wind farm off Long Island’s South Shore.
The plan has generated considerable controversy in Long Beach and Oceanside, over health issues generated by cables stretching from the wind turbines to the E.F. Barrett Power Plant in Island Park.
But the experts were not always successful.
The presentation was organized by the Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) led by its executive director, Adrienne Esposito.
Topics included the basics of the Offshore Wind project, the dangers of electromagnetic fields (EMFs), how the project will affect marine life and the benefit for local labor and jobs.
MAINE: Rare orange lobster caught off coast of Maine
June 5, 2023 — A rare orange lobster was caught recently off the coast of Maine by a Scarborough fisherman.
The lobster, which has one claw, was caught in Casco Bay by Capt. Gregg Turner and his crew, Sage Blake and Mandy Cyr while fishing on the boat Deborah and Megan, according to a statement by Cyr.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen one and the second time Captain Gregg has,” Cyr said. “It’s pretty exciting.”
The orange lobster is not destined for a pot of boiling water. It has been kept at Turners Lobsters on Pine Point Road in Scarborough while awaiting transfer to its new home at the University of New England’s Arthur P. Girard Marine Science Center in Biddeford. Turner and his crew caught a Calico lobster last winter and also donated it to UNE. Students named that lobster “Sprinkles.”
ALASKA: A visit to Dutch Harbor, built for fishing, is an opportunity to soak up its distinct history
June 5, 2023 — Fishing is the front door to Unalaska and the Port of Dutch Harbor, located almost 800 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Aleutian Chain.
Most people who come to Unalaska are arriving to work in the processing plants, or on the fishing boats that Hobo Jim sings about.
But Unalaska’s first settlers, the Unangan people, have called the island home for 10,000 years.
Before the crab and pollock fisheries, Russian explorers arrived in the 18th century to harvest fur seals. In 1942, Japanese planes bombed Dutch Harbor — and World War II brought massive changes to the Aleutian Islands.
Nobska completes its first trip for Blue Harvest Fisheries
June 2, 2023 — Blue Harvest Fisheries’ newest vessel, the F/V Nobska, returned to port earlier this week after a successful maiden voyage.
Blue Harvest acquired the vessel, previously named the Francis Dawn, earlier this year as part of the company’s pivot to focus on growing its groundfish fishing business. Built in 2019, the vessel is equipped with state-of-the-art electronics and a slurry ice vat system for its fish hold.
MAINE: A Lasting Grudge: FDA’s Closure of the Historic Maine Smokehouse
June 1, 2023 — John McCurdy of Lubec, Maine, holds the distinction of having run the last herring smokehouse in the USA. Sit down to talk to him about it, and you’ll find that at age 92, he is still mad about the US Food and Drug Administration shutting him down in 1991. “What happened is, some people in New York City got botulism from smoked whitefish out in the Great Lakes. So, they made a law that all smoked fish had to be eviscerated before they were salted. Well, you know we bought over 100 hogsheads [120,000] at a time, and those boats wanted to unload fast and get back out fishing. There’s no way we could gut those fish.”
McCurdy’ smokehouse was already a labor-intensive business, with 24 people doing everything from brining the fish, loading the smokehouse, moving fish upward in the smokehouse over the course of an 8-week curing process, and then skinning, boning, and packing it. And it was all hand work, “Artisanal” it would be called today. The workers made the boxes for packing, carefully laid the fish in, and nailed the lids on. Nothing in the entire operation was automated; it relied on human beings using their judgment as to how much brine to soak the fish into when the fish were ready. “If they rattle when you bring them down, they’re ready,” says McCurdy. “We sold 15,000 boxes a year. We sold to Mom & Pop stores, 100 boxes here, a hundred there.
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