October 28, 2023 — Avangrid reported Thursday that in canceling its Park City Wind farm for Connecticut, it sidestepped more than $1 billion in write-offs as projected costs outstripped revenue it expected under a power purchase agreement with the state.
Avangrid, a subsidiary of Spain-based Iberdrola, has its headquarters in Orange. Avangrid’s subsidiaries include United Illuminating, which owns power lines that provide electricity in the Bridgeport and New Haven metropolitan areas. UI sued the state in September after regulators denied a rate increase it had sought.
Avangrid also owns Central Maine Power, which has its headquarters in Auburn where officials issued a “shelter in place” advisory after the overnight mass shootings in adjacent Lewiston. Just after 9 a.m. on Thursday, CMP alerted customers it would coordinate with local law enforcement in responding to any outages Thursday morning.
“We have many Central Maine Power employees in Lewiston and all over Maine who are likely severely impacted by this horrible act of senseless violence,” said Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra, speaking Thursday morning on a conference call with investment analysts. “We are monitoring the situation very closely and we are prepared to provide every resource available to our employees and our affected communities. Our hearts and thoughts from all of us at CMP, Avangrid and Iberdrola are with the Lewiston community in this difficult time.”
Avangrid unilaterally pulled the plug on the Park City Wind farm several weeks ago, as the cost of construction outstripped revenue projections from a power purchase agreement with the state of Connecticut. The companies had aimed to start construction by 2026.
In August, Avangrid restarted construction of a transmission line through Maine to feed electricity to the New England grid from hydropower plants in Canada, after a court decision in its favor. At 1,200 megawatts, the New England Clean Energy Connect lines would deliver 50 percent more power than Park City Wind at optimal wind conditions.