1. Nantucket County, Massachusetts – The Biden administration is rushing to finish permitting Ocean Winds’ Southcoast Wind project, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and Engie, before Donald Trump returns to the White House. Questions remain as to whether it can be done.
- Since Election Day, Southcoast Wind has received full environmental review and received a draft EPA air permit last week. We’re still waiting on a record of decision though and until then, all bets are off.
- Complicating matters is the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, which is now fighting the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to get more money and benefits in the event the project is fully permitted. They’re worried about blade failures.
- Legal counsel for the town wrote BOEM on Oct. 30 objecting to the agency’s plans for mitigating potential impacts to the town’s historic properties, arguing the Vineyard Wind blade collapse must be fully investigated before any final approvals are granted.
- Given how Southcoast Wind is close to the finish line at the federal level, I’m watching to see if this dispute with Nantucket becomes a basis for a permitting reversal in the event it can’t make its way through the process before Trump comes into office.
2. Pittsburgh County, Oklahoma – Momentum is building for an anti-wind moratorium in this Oklahoma county home to multiple proposed wind projects.
