AS THE OFFSHORE wind business is ramping up in Massachusetts and along the East Coast, Gov. Charlie Baker is proposing spending $100 million in federal money on marine port infrastructure to support the emerging industry. The proposal is part of Baker’s $2.9 billion package for how to spend more than half the money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. Officials from the Executive […]
Offshore Wind
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Mayflower Wind strikes Brayton Point deal
MAYFLOWER WIND, which is planning to bring ashore on Cape Cod the electricity generated by its first wind farm, said on Thursday that it intends to shift the landing point for the power produced by its future wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts to Brayton Point in Somerset. The announcement is good news for […]
Posted inEnvironment
Offshore wind gets a green light
AFTER YEARS of federal delays, Vineyard Wind on Tuesday gained approval from the Biden administration to construct the nation’s first industrial-scale wind farm 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. The long-awaited regulatory decision sets the state and the nation on course for a very different energy future, one that relies on offshore wind to help […]
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Baker administration, Vineyard Wind schedule announcement
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION scheduled a press conference for Tuesday with top officials from Vineyard Wind “to discuss the future of offshore wind in Massachusetts,” prompting speculation that the offshore wind developer’s federal environmental impact statement has secured its final approval. In a media advisory issued at 9:15 p.m. Monday, the Baker administration said a press […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
State begins 3d procurement for offshore wind
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE’S ELECTRIC utilities and the Baker administration are back in the market for another offshore wind contract, this time seeking up to twice as much power as in previous rounds. Under a request for proposals released Friday, bids are due by September 16, with plans to select the winning bid […]
Posted inEnvironment
Somerset coming apart at the seams
THE SOUTH COAST community of Somerset seems to be pulling apart at the seams, as rancor over stop-gap development at Brayton Point prompted the chair of the Board of Selectmen to resign her position a year early, saying she can no longer stand “the hate and venom” that has spread throughout the community. “Civility has […]
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New Bedford mayor calls offshore wind ‘generational opportunity’
NEW BEDFORD MAYOR Jon Mitchell is of two minds about Vineyard Wind, which after lengthy regulatory delays seems poised to finally get underway. The mayor is excited about the potential for offshore wind farms to transform New Bedford the way they have many older European port cities, but he also worries that Massachusetts may be […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Biden sets big goal for offshore wind
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE PIPELINE of offshore wind developments that will follow the first-in-the-nation Vineyard Wind I project came into clearer view Monday when the Biden administration announced a goal of creating almost 80,000 jobs by tapping into 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2030. Between Vineyard Wind, the 800-megawatt project in line […]
Posted inEnvironment
How to build an industry to support offshore wind
AFTER SIGNING the climate change bill into law on Friday, Gov. Charlie Baker and House Speaker Ron Mariano began an interesting discussion about how the state should go about building an onshore industry to support the development of offshore wind. The climate change law authorizes the purchase of 5,600 megawatts of offshore wind, but it […]
Posted inEnvironment
Mariano pledges to turn South Coast into ‘hub of wind energy’
MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE SPEAKER Ron Mariano on Thursday pledged to make major investments to turn the South Coast into “a hub of wind energy for the region.” Mariano, in a virtual speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, envisioned using the nascent offshore wind energy industry as a way to create jobs in Massachusetts while positioning the state […]