And the answer is not blowing in the wind
My friend in New England has a lot of free time in October because his Red Sox are out of the post season. So he sent me this newspaper report.
It's November in Massachusetts and time to get an update about our future and green energy. Well, not so fast, as we see in this report:
A major offshore wind project in the Massachusetts pipeline "is no longer viable and would not be able to move forward" under the terms of contracts filed in May.
Both developers behind the state's next two offshore wind projects are asking state regulators to pause review of the contracts for one month amid price increases, supply shortages and interest rate hikes.
Utility executives working with assistance from the Baker administration last year chose Avangrid's roughly 1,200-megawatt Commonwealth Wind project and a 400 MW project from Mayflower Wind in the third round of offshore wind procurement to continue the state's pursuit of establishing cleaner offshore wind power. Contracts, or power purchase agreements (PPAs), for the projects were filed with the Department of Public Utilities in May.
But last week, Commonwealth Wind filed a motion for a one-month delay in DPU's review, telling the state that their project can no longer move forward as planned.
Did the wind stop blowing in New England? No — the weather in November is always chilly up there. Are turbines killing too many birds and getting PETA angry? It could be that, but I have not heard about the birds.
It turns out that this project has crashed into the Biden economy: global commodity price increases, interest rates, and supply chain problems that Secretary Pete does not have a clue about fixing. And then there are those labor force issues that every company has to deal with.
Another great day for the Biden economy, green energy, and all those people who want us to freeze this winter to make the climate activists happy.
PS: Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.
Image: Western Area Power.