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Awash in uncertainty, SouthCoast Wind contract delayed for a third time

April 2, 2025 — No one knew exactly how President Donald Trump’s first-day order halting new offshore wind leases would affect the federal approvals already granted for the SouthCoast Wind project planned south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

More than two months later, uncertainty still hangs over the 147-turbine wind farm. Which is why SouthCoast Wind and utility companies in Rhode Island and Massachusetts announced Monday a three-month extension to finish contract negotiations — the same day final contracts were set to be executed.

“The multi-state negotiations have been complex and ambitious; now they must also tackle uncertainty presented by federal policy,” Rebecca Ullman, a SouthCoast Wind spokesperson, said in an emailed statement on Monday. SouthCoast Wind is grateful for the continued collaboration with our Massachusetts and Rhode Island partners.”

The new June 30 deadline marks the third delay since Rhode Island and Massachusetts jointly unveiled plans in September to buy power from SouthCoast Wind following a competitive, tri-state solicitation that included Connecticut. The bulk of the power from SouthCoast’s 1,287 megawatts of “nameplate capacity” — 1,087 megawatts — would go to Massachusetts under tentative contracts with its utility companies. Rhode Island Energy was set to buy the remaining 200 megawatts of wind-powered electricity to deliver to the Ocean State’s electric grid.

Read the full article at the Rhode Island Current

MASSACHSUETTS: Trump’s shadow looms as offshore wind price negotiation deadline missed

April 2, 2025 — Negotiators working on contracts for two new offshore wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts say they need more time to strike a deal, yet another sign that President Trump’s anti-wind philosophy is wreaking havoc with the state’s energy plans.

The price negotiations between the state’s utilities and the offshore wind developers, Avangrid and Ocean Winds, were scheduled to wrap up on Monday, but they couldn’t reach a deal in the allotted time and set a new deadline of June 30. Under the updated timeline, the contracts won’t become public until August 25.

The latest delay was the second time since Trump was elected that the two sides have failed to meet a deadline and contract negotiations had to be extended.

Officials for all the parties declined to comment on the cause of the holdups, but a spokeswoman for the Healey administration indicated Trump’s opposition to offshore wind is making it difficult to reach a deal.

Read the full article at the CommonWealth Beacon

Nantucket files legal challenge against SouthCoast Wind

March 31, 2025 — An offshore wind development planned off the Vineyard’s coast has been hit with a legal challenge from the Town of Nantucket, where municipal officials are saying federal regulators failed to address the adverse impacts of the project to the town.

Targeting SouthCoast Wind, the town filed an appeal against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the federal agency that approves offshore wind projects, on Thursday to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The town argues that federal regulators broke federal laws by not considering the cumulative impact of multiple large offshore wind projects, including SouthCoast Wind, on Nantucket, which is designated as a national historic landmark. They also allege federal regulators and developers did not properly plan mitigation efforts, including “adequate visual simulations.”

“BOEM’s conduct sets a dangerous precedent by weakening the federal government’s review of all energy-related projects, including fossil fuel projects that contribute most to global warming,” William Cooke, an attorney from Cultural Heritage Partners representing Nantucket, said in a press release. “We need to defend federal laws that protect our cultural and environmental resources now more than ever.”

Read the full article at MV Times

Nantucket challenges federal approval of SouthCoast offshore wind project

March 31, 2025 — The town of Nantucket filed an appeal in federal court Thursday, alleging that the SouthCoast Wind project was improperly permitted and will harm the island’s “heritage tourism economy.”

The appeal was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs are targeting the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), claiming it violated federal law by permitting the project.

“While BOEM has admitted that the project will adversely affect Nantucket’s internationally renowned historic district, which powers the Town’s heritage tourism economy, Nantucket alleges that BOEM violated federal law in failing to address those harms before greenlighting the project,” the town said Thursday.

In January, on the last business day of the Biden administration, BOEM announced its approval of SouthCoast Wind’s construction and operations plan. The project is planned about 20 nautical miles south of Nantucket, and includes the construction of up to 141 wind turbines and up to five substation platforms.

Last September, Massachusetts announced its intention to buy 1,087 megawatts of power from the 1,287 megawatt project, with the remaining 200 MW going to Rhode Island.

“Nantucket is a premier international destination for our commitment to preservation,” Town Select Board Chair Brooke Mohr said. “Despite our repeated attempts to help BOEM and the developer find balance between the nation’s renewable energy goals and the protection of what makes us unique, they have refused to work with us and to follow the law. We are taking action to hold them accountable.”

Read the full article at the wbur

Atlantic Shore South Wind Project “Has Been Sunk”

March 31, 2025 — Federal officials pulled the plug on the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind project on March 14, 2025, as Environmental Appeals Court Judge Mary Kay Lynch ruled to remand a Clean Air Act permit issued last September to Atlantic Shores back to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to the Asbury Park Press, EPA officials filed a motion in February to have the court remand the permit to the agency, in order to review the wind energy project’s environmental impacts. The action came in response to President Donald Trump’s January memorandum to withdraw all of the outer continental shelf from offshore wind leases for further review.

In 2021, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) awarded Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind a contract for 1.5 megawatts of renewable energy production to be generated in a facility off Atlantic City, but Judge Lynch’s decision could threaten the future of that project.

“I am glad to announce that the Atlantic Shores South wind project off of Long Beach Island (LBI) and Brigantine, NJ has been sunk,” said Bob Stern of Save LBI, the organization which had petitioned the federal government to review of the Clean Air Act permit issued to the offshore wind developer.  Stern noted that Shell New Energies, a 50% owner of the Atlantic Shores project, announced that they were stepping away from the project just 20 days after his organization had filed a comprehensive federal lawsuit against the project.

Read the full article at The Fisherman

Nantucket officials, group challenge 3 offshore wind projects

March 28, 2025 — The Town of Nantucket and a Nantucket-based activist group are challenging three offshore wind projects off the Massachusetts coast through litigation in federal court and two petitions, respectively.

The challenges are part of a larger effort to reverse Biden-era approvals of offshore wind projects under the Trump administration, which has been highly critical of them.

On Thursday, the town sued the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, requesting that the government “set aside” its record of decision approving SouthCoast Wind. Nantucket wants the government to restart its environmental review — a process that took more than three years to complete and culminated in key permits allowing the project to move forward with construction.

Meanwhile, the Nantucket-based ACK for Whales (formerly known as Nantucket Residents Against Turbines) is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to rescind permits it granted to Vineyard Wind and New England Wind to construct and operate their offshore wind farms.

The group filed a petition against Vineyard Wind on March 25, asking the EPA to reopen, reanalyze, and ultimately revoke the permit, which the agency granted in 2021 and amended in 2022. Vineyard Wind is currently under construction, with the Port of New Bedford as its staging area.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

NEW JERSEY: Attentive Energy offshore wind project seeks 1-year delay in $37.3M payments mandated by state

March 28, 2025 — Another proposed offshore wind farm in New Jersey is hitting some turbulence.

Attentive Energy is asking the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to grant it a one-year delay in making $37.3 million worth of payments the state mandated as part of its preliminary approval for the project.

It has preliminary approval for a wind farm 42 miles off Seaside Heights that would power more than 650,000 homes.

The board was scheduled to consider the request during a meeting last week but removed it from the agenda shortly before the meeting began without listing a reason for the move.

A board spokeswoman said Thursday it is unclear when the request will be considered. Its next meeting is April 23.

Read the full article at The Press of Atlantic City

ACK For Whales Files New Challenge Of Vineyard Wind Permit

March 26, 2025 — The Nantucket-based group ACK For Whales has launched a new challenge to Vineyard Wind, filing a petition with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revoke the offshore wind developer’s Clean Air Act permit for the project.

The permit, which was issued by the EPA on June 21, 2021, outlines the air pollution control requirements for Vineyard Wind, ensuring that it complies with federal and state regulations. However, ACK For Whales has asserted that the agency failed to consider the additional emissions resulting from blade failure events like the one that occurred at Vineyard Wind on July 13, 2024, as well as the cumulative effects of emissions from vessels and pile driving associated with the project.

“When the Vineyard Wind 1 blade failed on July 13, 2024, it became clear that such an event had not been adequately forestalled,” the non-profit group stated in its petition. “The resultant vessel traffic to search for and collect debris, the removal of 66 installed blades including international transport of damaged and replacement blades, and re-installment of new blades is not accounted for. In addition, the emissions from likely pollution events such as blade failures is not considered as there is not even a pollution plan in the permitting documents.”

Vineyard Wind officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on ACK For Whales’ petition.

While its previous legal challenges have all been rejected, ACK For Whales’ latest effort to stymie Vineyard Wind comes amid a completely changed political landscape under President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump’s executive order signed on his inauguration day in January immediately halted any new federal leases for offshore wind projects. It also sets the stage for his administration to terminate or amend existing wind energy leases – including for projects such as Vineyard Wind and SouthCoast Wind off Nantucket – following a review by the Secretary of the Department of the Interior. That review will focus on “the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases, identifying any legal bases for such removal.”

Read the full article at the Nantucket Current

Trump’s EPA Withdraws Permit from Proposed NJ Offshore Wind Farm

March 18, 2025 — Federal officials were successful in withdrawing for what is believed to be the first time an environmental permit granted by the Biden administration for an offshore wind farm. New Jersey’s proposed Atlantic Shores offshore wind farm project had been singled out by Donald Trump in his opposition to the industry and this latest development adds another hurdle to an already troubled project and potentially the industry.

Atlantic Shores which was proposed as a joint venture between Shell and EDF Renewables received its federal permitting including approval of its Construction and Operations Plan by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in October 2024. The plan calls for a two-phase project with a total capacity of 2.8 GW. The first phase, which would be in the southern part of the state near Atlantic City has consistently been reported to be in position to become New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm.

Donald Trump singled out the project during the 2024 presidential campaign and in February 2025 said he hoped the New Jersey project would be “dead and gone.” Among the presidential executive orders were steps to review the industry and its impact on the environment.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

EPA Halts Atlantic Shores Wind Farm Construction as Trump Administration Reviews Projects

March 18, 2025 — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suspended permits for the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project off New Jersey’s coast following a January 2025 Presidential directive that ordered an immediate halt to offshore wind development.

The Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) granted EPA Region 2’s request to remand permits for the project, which had previously received approval to construct up to 200 wind turbines capable of generating 2,800 megawatts of power – enough electricity to power one million homes.

The suspension comes amid broader industry challenges, including Shell’s recent withdrawal from the project with a $996 million impairment and the cancellation of New Jersey’s fourth offshore wind solicitation.

Read the full article at gCaptian