March 21, 2022 — Gov. Dan McKee is moving ahead with a plan to ramp up Rhode Island’s supply of power from offshore wind farms that would be developed off the coast of Southern New England.
Legislation introduced in the General Assembly at the request of the McKee administration would require that a request for proposals be issued this summer for another 600 megawatts of offshore wind energy.
The plan comes despite uncertainty over the sale of National Grid’s electric and natural gas operations in Rhode Island. The transaction with Pennsylvania-based PPL Corp. is on hold pending court appeals from the attorneys general in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Any new contracts for offshore wind would have to be signed by whichever company owns the utility business.
Bill aims to address fisheries impacts and other issues
The legislation also aims to address other areas of controversy and head off conflicts over individual offshore wind proposals before they may arise.
Recent projects planned for the ocean waters off Rhode Island and Massachusetts have run into opposition from commercial fishermen who complain that siting what could eventually be hundreds of turbines in valuable fishing grounds will interfere with their livelihoods.
The bill would require developers to provide information on turbine layouts and locations during the procurement process. And they would have to submit a fisheries mitigation plan. That information has typically been released once contracts have been approved.