RENEW Northeast congratulates the renewable energy companies that today secured leases from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for development of offshore wind generation off southern New England. The three leases are for 390,000 acres of ocean surface that would be shared with boaters, the fishing industry and all those who currently enjoy use of our waters. “Today’s enormous investment of private capital demonstrates how offshore wind can provide energy on the scale needed to address winter energy reliability needs and reduce carbon emissions while creating thousands of high paying jobs,” said Francis Pullaro, Executive Director of RENEW Northeast.
This lease auction builds on recent competitively awarded contacts for 1,400 megawatts of offshore wind energy by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Those solicitations showed that offshore wind can provide renewable energy at a highly competitive price while meeting the environmental goals of the New England states.
Today’s private investment in offshore wind casts further doubt on the wisdom of Massachusetts continuing to pursue a contract with Hydro-Quebec that will cost its electricity customers $500 million annually for 20 years, instead of investing that money in local wind and solar energy projects that provide direct benefits to our communities. “Despite the high cost of this imported electricity, it would only deliver power from old resources that Quebec is already selling to its other neighbors and that need no further support from Massachusetts ratepayers,” Francis Pullaro noted.
RENEW Northeast is a non-profit association uniting the renewable energy industry and environmental advocates whose mission involves coordinating the ideas and resources of its members with the goal of increasing environmentally sustainable energy generation in the Northeast from the region’s abundant, indigenous renewable resources.