November 28, 2018 โ Rhode Island coastal regulators granted Vineyard Wind a stay in permitting proceedings on Tuesday, giving the New Bedford company another two months to reach agreement with fishermen who say they would lose access to valuable fishing grounds in the waters where 84 wind turbines would be installed.
At the request of Vineyard Wind, the Coastal Resources Management Council agreed to postpone a decision until the end of January on whether to grant whatโs known as a โconsistency certificationโ to the 800-megawatt offshore wind farm proposed in 118 square miles between Block Island and Marthaโs Vineyard.
The delay will give the company more time to discuss a compensation package with fishermen and potential tweaks to the wind farmโs layout, said CEO Lars Pedersen.
โIt requires more time to find the right solutions,โ he said. โWe recognize that it is a challenging situation.โ
But representatives of the fishing industry argued against the stay.
โWeโve tried โ 14 months, countless hours, countless days not at sea โ and it just seems like theyโre stalling,โ said Newport fisherman Todd Sutton.
The decision represents a reprieve for the $2-billion proposal, which is facing headwinds after fishermen complained that the orientation and tight spacing of the turbines would make it impossible for them to safely fish in grounds rich in lobster, Jonah crab and squid. On Nov. 19, the Fishermenโs Advisory Board, which advises the CRMC on fishing issues related to offshore wind, unanimously voted to deny its support to the proposal.
Since that vote, staff in Gov. Gina Raimondoโs office have spoken with Vineyard Wind and the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the lead permitting agency for the project, but no further changes were made to the proposal.