Tag Archives: Long Island Power Authority

The Offshore Wind Farmers are Winning! Benefits Package Totals $29 Million for East Hampton Town

The Town of East Hampton and the town trustees will share a community benefits package worth almost $29 million in exchange for easements allowing Orsted U.S Offshore Wind and Eversource, partners developing the proposed 15-turbine South Fork Wind project, That decision has infuriated many residents of that hamlet, as well as most commercial fishermen in the town, though the site has equally impassioned support of other Wainscott residents, one of whom called in twice to Tuesday’s virtual meeting. >click to read< 12:31

Bend Over! – Critics Say Wind Farm Rates Constitute Price Gouging

There are a lot of ways to deflect the criticism, but really none to refute it: The South Fork Wind Farm will charge higher rates for the power it generates — three to five times more than its parent company, Ørsted/Deepwater, will charge in nearby markets. Despite complaints from all sides, freedom of information requests, and now a lawsuit, neither the Long Island Power Authority nor Ørsted have shed any light on the matter. East Hampton Town doesn’t even know the cost per kilowatt-hour ratepayers will be charged. In fact, though, every ratepayer in the PSEG/LIPA system will pay for the wind power generated, and the power will not be earmarked for East Hampton, as many at first believed, but for the entire grid. >click to read< 19:40

Thiele Withdraws Support For South Fork Wind Farm

State Assemblyman Fred Thiele has announced he has withdrawn his support for Deepwater Wind’s South Fork Wind Farm. In a press release issued on January 24, Thiele said two events led to his about-face. The first was the announcement in May that Deepwater had been sold to Orsted, a Danish energy company and a major player in offshore wind. A second factor, Thiele said, was Orsted’s decision to expand the capacity of the wind farm from 90 megawatts to 130 megawatts by building larger turbines. >click to read<, thank you Gary, and thank you Fred Thiele.19:41

Fishermen up in arms over plan to build windmills off Long Island coast

It’s before dawn on a recent July morning at Lazy Point in Napeague Bay, LI, and there is a slight chill in the air as the fishermen unload their boats into the water. Dan Lester, a 12th-generation bayman, and his son Daniel, 14, are among those heading to sea to check their traps. “This is the most sustainable fishing you’ll ever see,” Dan says as they begin hand-sorting the fish trapped in their nets, tossing whatever they can’t sell, including small spider crabs and stingrays, back into the ocean. On a certain level, not much has changed for these New York baymen since the 1600s, when their ancestors came from places such as Kent, England, and were taught to fish by native Algonquin tribe members. But these East End fishermen fear it soon will. They are up in arms over an agreement to build 15 massive windmills – each more than 650 feet tall, the height of Manhattan skyscrapers – off the coast of Montauk. >click to read<09:33

How fishermen could thwart Cuomo’s offshore wind master plan

In the mist off New England’s coast, towering alien monoliths pierce the surging waters, soaring 600 to 850 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. Hundreds of these titans, rising up to 200 feet taller than Trump Tower, chop the air with massive blades that are taller than Albany’s Capitol building. Offshore wind turbines like these, Gov. Andrew Cuomo says, are a critical part of his clean energy mandate to generate 50 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable energy. But those humble fishermen are threatening to derail the governor’s goals with a federal lawsuit they believe is their last best shot to save their livelihoods. >click to read<21:41

Deepwater Wind Farm Representatives Face Blowback

As a deadline looms for the submission of applications to federal and state agencies, Deepwater Wind, the Rhode Island company seeking to construct a 15-turbine wind farm approximately 36 miles east of Montauk, is facing headwinds from commercial fishermen and their representatives, who are concerned that the installation could disrupt the industry and threaten marine life, habitats, or migration patterns. >click here to read< 19:19

Offshore Wind: LIPA Blasted at Meeting

A discussion on Nov. 1 of the proposed South Fork Wind Farm, hosted by the East Hampton Town Trustees’ harbor management committee, was blown off course. The three-hour meeting at Scoville Hall in Amagansett was largely devoted to a presentation by Michael McDonald of the East End Resilience Network. While Mr. McDonald praised Deepwater Wind, the Rhode Island company that hopes to build the 15-turbine wind farm approximately 30 miles off Montauk, he was harshly critical of the Long Island Power Authority and PSEG Long Island, which manages the grid for LIPA.,,, Bonnie Brady emphasized the commercial fishing industry’s opposition to the wind farm click here to read the story 17:18

Deepwater Wind Adds Three Possible Spots On The Ocean Where Power Cables Would Come Ashore

Deepwater, which is based in Rhode Island, has been conducting an offshore survey to find the appropriate place to install the power cables for the turbines, Mr. Plummer told those in attendance. The firm has also been conducting geophysical and geotechnical surveys to determine the species that live on the ocean floor and could be affected by the presence of the turbines. Fishermen have been the project’s staunchest opponent, and were so again at last week’s meeting. “We provide food for the nation and when electricity goes out, we still need to feed people and that’s what we do,” Ms. Brady said. “Please reconsider this.” click here to read the story 18:12

Bonackers vs. Big Wind – Cuomo’s preposterous renewable-energy plan threatens Long Island’s fishing industry

Nat Miller and Jim Bennett didn’t have much time to chat. It was about 8:45 on a sunny Sunday morning in early May, and they were loading their gear onto two boats—a 20-foot skiff with a 115-horsepower outboard, and an 18-foot sharpie with a 50-horse outboard—at Lazy Point, on the southern edge of Napeague Bay, on the South Fork of Long Island. “We are working against the wind and the tide,” Miller said as he shook my hand.,, If Governor Andrew Cuomo gets his way, though, they and other commercial fishermen on the South Fork may need to look for a new line of work.,,, Deepwater Wind and D. E. Shaw have close ties to the NRDC and to Cuomo.  click here to read the story 19:11

Cuomo starts master plan for wind power off LI coast

cape-wind-power-farm-b1The Cuomo administration on Thursday started creating a master plan to harness some of the world’s strongest offshore winds. The state’s Long Island Power Authority and the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority have identified six potential wind energy areas for New York, including one that would stretch across the length of the Hamptons. The Cuomo administration, however, said no decisions on locating wind farms have yet been made. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the energy planning will include input from utilities, environmentalists, groups, coastal communities, commercial fishermen and the maritime industry. The state’s Offshore Wind Master Plan will be due by the end of 2017. Read the story here 08:45

Well connected NY energy czar to recuse himself from LI wind farm meetings

New York’s chairman of energy and financeNew York’s chairman of energy and finance will exclude himself from meetings with the world’s largest offshore wind-energy developer about a wind farm off Long Island because of an investment he has in a Goldman Sachs subsidiary that owns a large stake in the company. As the state leads the wind farm plan, Richard Kauffman said he would recuse himself from future dealings with a Danish company, Dong Energy, after Newsday inquired about the investment in June. Kauffman, dubbed the state’s first energy czar, oversees and manages New York State’s “entire energy portfolio,” including the Long Island Power Authority, the state Department of Public Service and the New York Power Authority. Kauffman also is chairman of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which last month announced it will take over as the lead agency to pursue lease rights for an 81,000-acre offshore wind farm 19 miles from Long Beach. LIPA initiated the project in 2008 and formed a partnership with Con Edison and the New York Power Authority to pursue lease rights, a task NYSERDA has overtaken. Read the rest here 11:32

Long Island Power Authority to approve plan to build 15 wind turbines 30 miles southeast of Montauk

BN-OX426_0714ny_P_20160714110311Long Island would get New York state’s first offshore wind farm, a collection of wind turbines off Montauk that could provide energy for 50,000 homes, under an agreement detailed Thursday. The board of trustees of the Long Island Power Authority, a state authority, is expected to vote Wednesday to approve a plan with Deepwater Wind LLC, which would build 15 wind turbines on a open-ocean site it leases from the federal government. The plan has drawn opposition from the commercial fishing industry, worried about disturbances to prime fish-nursery areas. Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, said the project would “maim and kill fish” through years of pile driving and laying of cable. She said the bases of the towers would then permanently alter the undersea environment. “These industrial projects should not be built where things live,” she said. “From a commercial fishing standpoint we are being sold out.” Read the rest here 10:02

Interior Approves New York City Offshore Wind Project, Commercial Fishermen Oppose

cape-wind-power-farm-b1The Offshore Wind Project in New York City is given a go signal by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) last week. On the other hand, the commercial fishermen disagree in building windmills on pylons within approximately 329 square kilometers of the New York Bight. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said that the department took a major step in broadening the nation’s energy portfolio, channeling power near population centers on the East Coast. The Offshore Wind Project is a public-private collaboration by Con Edison, Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and New York Power Authority (NYPA). On the other hand, the fishing industry has urged for BOEM to relocate the project. They reasoned that the wind development might constraint valuable scallop habitat and initiate navigational hazards for fishing boats. They added that the construction of the project could also harm the scallop fishery. Read the rest here 08:25