November 18, 2022 — New York regulators have granted approval for a 25-mile transmission that will carry power from the state’s largest offshore wind farm to a substation in Suffolk County, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office on Thursday announced.
The transmission line approval by the New York State Public Service Commission is an important development for the proposed Sunrise Wind Farm off the coast of Long Island.
February 14, 2022 — The construction of a dozen wind turbines 35 miles off Long Island’s eastern tip has begun, officials said Friday, marking the state’s first offshore wind project launch.
The South Fork Wind Farm is planned to sit south of Rhode Island and send power to East Hampton. It could also put New York into rare air: Gov. Hochul has said the state will boast the largest offshore wind farm in the Western Hemisphere after the project’s completion.
The farm is projected to power up to 70,000 homes. New York is also whipping up several larger offshore wind plants that the government estimated will collectively power more than 2 million homes and create thousands of jobs.
“If you ask what the energy future looks like, I say: The answer my friends is blowing in the wind,” Gov. Hochul said in a rhetorical nod to Bob Dylan at the Friday groundbreaking ceremony. “This is just the beginning.”
January 21, 2022 — The South Fork Wind energy project 35 miles east of Montauk, N.Y., won final approval Jan. 19 to begin construction, lining it up to be the second offshore wind turbine array in federal waters.
The federal Bureau of Offshore Energy Management signed off on the construction and operations plan for South Fork, setting out a 1-nautical mile spacing between a dozen 11-megawatt Siemens-Gamesa turbines and some areas set aside in the federal lease area to preserve bottom habitat for marine species.
Installing monopile foundations and turbines is scheduled for summer 2023. The 132 MW project by developers Ørsted and Eversource is seen as a keystone by New York State energy planners for bringing future power to Long Island – potentially for 70,000 homes by the end of 2023 – as they look to even bigger projects offshore to feed the New York City metro area.
“This milestone underscores the tremendous opportunity we have to create a new industry from the ground up to drive our green energy economy, deliver clean power to millions of homes and create good jobs across the state,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement after the BOEM approval. “As we tackle climate change head on and transition to a clean economy, these are the projects that will power our future.”
BOEM and wind developers continue to face fierce resistance from the Northeast commercial fishing industry. In December the Texas Public Policy Institute filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of fishermen in New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, charging that BOEM bypassed requirements for environmental review when it approved the construction and operations plan for Vineyard Wind, the first wind project in federal waters to be built east of the South Fork tract.
December 2, 2021 — The following was released by the office of Governor Kathy Hochul:
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced an additional $5.7 million in federal funding is available from New York’s Marine Fisheries Relief Program, established by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, to provide financial relief for New York’s marine fishing industry. Eligible seafood, commercial marine fishing, marine aquaculture, and marine recreational for-hire fishing businesses are eligible to apply for the funding beginning Dec. 1. This funding is in addition to the $6.7 million in assistance provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, for a total of $12.4 million in aid for New York’s seafood, marine commercial, and for-hire fishing industries after excessive business losses in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt New York’s commercial fishing industry which is reliant on vibrant tourism, dining, and recreational opportunities,” Governor Hochul said. “This funding is essential to assist businesses and coastal communities that have long played a vital role in the State’s economic success. My administration remains committed to supporting marine fishing and seafood industries here in New York and will work tirelessly to ensure financial support is provided to all eligible candidates.”