Massachusetts Offshore Wind Reneging On Electric Contracts

Massachusetts Legislation Promised Cost-Effective Power

.

In August 2016, Massachusetts approved the Omnibus Energy Bill. The bill was supposed to cover long-term contracts and prices for electric rate users.

.

An Act Relative to Energy Diversity House Bill 4568 required Massachusetts electric companies to procure 1600 megawatts of cost-effective offshore wind energy by the year 2027. The electric companies complied and signed legal contracts with offshore wind companies.

.

Massachusetts officials from various state agencies have since 2018 touted the success story of the offshore wind power solicitation process. The state regulations required all contracts to be both cost-effective and competitively built. The competition regulations were supposed to result in savings of hundreds of millions to electric ratepayers. The signed contracts with electric companies are savings to ratepayers.

.

Also in 2018, the legislature passed the Act to Advance Clean Energy to help produce even more offshore wind. The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) doubled the required amount of offshore wind to 3200 megawatts by 2035. The bill also authorized DOER to require the electric utility companies to solicit and procure proposals for cost-effective independent offshore wind transmission. The electric companies have complied.

.

In 2019, DOER submitted documents to the Legislature and announced they would require the electric utilities to procure an additional 1600 megawatts. The electric companies again complied.

.

In 2019 the Mass Department of Public Utilities approved two long-term offshore wind turbine power agreements between the offshore wind companies and the electric companies.

.

In 2022 the electric companies aka the electric distribution companies (“EDCs”) announced that they filed long-term contracts with several offshore wind companies as required by state legislation. The Department of Public Utilities reviewed and approved the projects that were selected pursuant to Section 83C Round III Procurement.

.

After going through the bidding process and signing the electric power contacts with three major power utilities the offshore wind companies are attempting to back out of the contracts and charge more money. The electric companies complied with years of regulations and bidding and the ocean wind companies aka LLCs, Limited Liability Corporations simply walk away.

.

The Massachusetts legislation raises serious questions about the future of Massachusetts offshore wind in the region and its ability to meet its 2030 clean energy goal. The issue is the wind companies want more money while the state has a renewable energy goal leaving the electric ratepayers under the bus.

.

To make things more complicated NOAA Fisheries has declared an unusual humpback whale mortality event that has been affecting Atlantic coast states since the start of the Rhode Island Ocean wind turbines construction in January of 2016. In New Jersey and New York since 2022 ocean wind construction started whales, dolphins, and porpoises have washed ashore in large numbers. Many blame sonar for the loss of hearing resulting in ship strikes.

.

Millions of dollars have been handed out between a Massachusetts semi-quasi-state agency and wind companies in the form of grants and research. The same agency owes a loan on the New Bedford Ocean wind turbine port construction of $187,500.00 a month for thirty years.

.

Note# Massachusetts had a land-based renewable energy goal of 2000 megawatts of wind power by the year 2020. The project was a disaster over regulatory noise, infra-sound, and shadow flicker in surrounding neighborhoods. The state has around 100 megawatts of land-based wind power today. Many projects are curtailed at night and in Falmouth, Massachusetts the two town-owned wind turbines were removed in 2022.

.

It appears the ocean wind agenda is headed in the same direction.