Tag Archives: New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
States edge closer to regional fund for fishermen hurt by offshore wind projects
A New York state energy agency, in collaboration with Massachusetts and nine other East Coast states, took a concrete step Thursday toward establishing that fund. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority issued a request for proposals seeking a firm to design and develop the regional fund and a standardized claims process for the fishing industry. The process would apply regardless of which wind project caused the economic loss. In as few as 16 months, the states hope to have a claims process established, a third-party administrator selected, and millions of dollars from offshore wind developers that can be doled out to affected fishermen of any Eastern port as needed. The fund is a response to several projects that are slated to come online along the Northeast amid a lack of any national solution. more, >>click to read<< 14:53
State officials to field questions on offshore wind at meetings on LI
The state and wind-farm developers are expected to face questions about cost, views and impacts on fishing and birds at three open-house informational meetings,,,, “I’m petrified of them,” said Mark Phillips, one of the most experienced commercial fishermen on Long Island and one of the last operating out of Greenport. His chief concern, he said, is the turbines’ potential impact on the region’s vital squid fishery.,,, “The potential to lose the whole inshore squid fishery is real to me,” he said. >click to read< 17:02
New York’s offshore wind plan faces commercial fishing opposition – $1 billion boat-to-plate industry at stake
The plan to turn ocean wind into energy calls for anchoring 15 wind turbines, each one a little taller than the Washington Monument, into the sea floor more than 30 miles off the coast of Montauk, Long Island.,,, And that’s right smack in the middle of where Chris Scola makes his living. Several days a week, Scola motors his rusting trawler – the Rock-n-Roll III — into the waters off Montauk’s coast, drops a dredging net onto the ocean floor and scoops up hundreds of pounds of scallops. Once those cables go in, Scola fears his nets will get entangled, making dredging so difficult he’ll need to find a place to fish further offshore with a larger boat, sending himself deeper into debt. >click to read<08:34
Plans For Offshore Wind Energy Draw Criticism At Hearing In Southampton On Monday
“We know the moment [the federal government] gets a taste of wind farms in the Atlantic, we are going to be playing whack-a-mole with energy and oil companies creeping up on our fishing grounds,” Bonnie Brady said at a presentation by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, on Monday night at the Southampton Inn. Ms. Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association in Montauk, said that, like other commercial fishermen in the audience, she worries that the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, which has jurisdiction over the Atlantic, will lease more ocean for wind energy development and wind up hurting the industry.>click to read<16:01
New York Releases Offshore Wind Master Plan
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) have released the New York State Offshore Wind Master Plan, an extensive document that highlights the state’s progress on offshore wind development while charting an ambitious path forward. The plan is designed to help meet the Governor’s previously announced goal of procuring 2,400 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind energy by 2030. >click to read<09:44
Possible wind farm sites 17 miles off Hamptons identified
A federal agency has identified a swath of the South Shore 17 miles off the coast of the Hamptons as a potential area for new offshore wind farms. If selected, the site would encompass 211,839 acres of ocean waters 15 nautical miles from land, from Center Moriches to Montauk.,,, LIPA has approved a 90-megawatt project off the coast of Rhode Island, New York State has a plan to inject 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind into the state grid, and Norwegian energy giant Statoil has a lease for more than 70,000 acres 15 miles from Long Beach for an offshore wind farm that could be completed by 2024. click here to read the story 12:43
The Future Of Offshore Wind Farms In The Atlantic
Fishermen are worried about an offshore wind farm proposed 30 miles out in the Atlantic from Montauk, New York, the largest fishing port in the state. They say those wind turbines – and many others that have been proposed – will impact the livelihood of fishermen in New York and New England. Scallop fisherman Chris Scola pulls out of a Montauk marina at 2 a.m. and spends the next two-and-a-half hours motoring to an area about 14 miles out into the Atlantic. Then, with the help of his two-man crew, spends about 10 hours dredging the sea floor for scallops before heading back to port.,,, “It’s not just us in New York. It’s all down the Seaboard. They want projects from Maine all the way down to South Carolina.” click here to read the story 14:57
NY State, Fishermen Map Out Possible Conflicts At Sea To Help Clear Way For Future Wind Turbines
Commercial fishermen from throughout the South Fork last week pored over nautical charts showing the broad swaths of ocean south of Long Island being considered for future wind energy development by New York State—and saw a lot of the area where they harvest a living. But the state officials who hosted two open-house discussions with fishermen last week, one at Shinnecock Inlet and the other in Montauk, said that is exactly what they wanted the fishermen to point out to them—so they can work to reduce the impact.,, “I think the main concern is that fishermen don’t want to lose any fishing ground,” said Bruce Beckwith, a Montauk draggerman. “For me, I would rather not see anything in the ocean—just leave it the way it is. I have eight grandsons. They might want to go fishing someday. I don’t want to see them be shut out.” click here to read the story 15:48
Andrew Cuomo’s wind farm plan needs 280 square miles off LI
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s ambition to develop enough offshore wind energy by 2030 to power 750,000 homes will require 280 square miles of ocean starting 12 to 15 miles from the Long Island shore, state officials said. In a presentation to Long Island fishing groups in Setauket last week, state officials unveiled a map outlining a massive wind-study area south of Long Island that could result in three separate wind farms in the water over the next decade. One fisherman at the meeting noted the location of that proposed array largely was determined before the Setauket meeting last Tuesday. “Why are we having outreach after the site lease is already sold?” said Mike Fogal, a Jones Inlet commercial fisherman. Read the story here 13:39
Auction scheduled for lease rights for wind farm, Fishermen seeking to block
The lease rights to develop a wind-energy farm on 79,350 acres of ocean 11.5 miles from Jones Beach could be granted by federal regulators this week. But the online bidding is only the start of a process that could take seven years or more, officials said. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a division of the Department of the Interior created by President Obama in 2010 to facilitate energy independence and accelerate wind-energy efforts, has said it will start the Thursday auction with an opening bid of $158,700, or around $2 per acre. The long-awaited path to that auction had seemed clear until fishing groups, including the largest commercial fishing association on Long Island, filed suit on Thursday seeking to block it, alleging the project of 194 turbines would hinder access to vital fishing grounds. A hearing on a request for a temporary restraining order and injunction has been scheduled for Dec. 14, a day before the auction, before U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan. But attorneys for both sides appear to have worked out an agreement that would let the auction go forward but give fishing groups 14 days’ notice before any final lease is executed. It awaits a judge’s approval. Read the rest here 09:02
