No to Deepwater Expansion

The Long Island Power Authority has declined a proposal from Deepwater Wind, the Rhode Island company that plans to construct a 15-turbine wind farm some 30 miles off the Montauk shore, to significantly expand that installation.

Newsday, quoting an unnamed senior official, reported last week that LIPA had declined the proposal as part of a review of more than a dozen “green” energy projects, on the grounds that it has sufficient sources of emission-free energy to meet state mandates. The agency will, however, consider future offshore wind projects, the official said. A LIPA official had not returned a call from The Star as of noon yesterday.

Deepwater Wind’s South Fork Wind Farm, from which LIPA has agreed to purchase electricity, is a 90-megawatt project that could be online late in 2022, provided all federal, state, and local regulatory agencies approve. The rejected proposal was for a 35-turbine, 210-megawatt installation.

“Offshore wind will play a major role in meeting Governor Cuomo’s ambitious clean energy goals because it’s the most cost-effective option for supplying new power to densely populated areas like Long Island and New York City,” Jeff Grybowski, Deepwater Wind’s chief executive, said in a statement. “The South Fork Wind Farm will be the state’s first offshore wind farm, and we’re working hard to bring that project online and deliver affordable, renewable energy to the South Fork. While we are disappointed that additional wind power from our site was not selected . . . we’re confident that our future projects will help New York reach its 2,400-megawatt offshore wind target. We applaud LIPA for being a forward-thinking utility and playing such an important part in growing this new American industry.”

The South Fork Wind Farm has drawn ample criticism from the Town of East Hampton’s commercial fishing industry, whose members worry that its installation will destroy essential habitat and disrupt their work. At the town trustees’ meeting on Monday, Rick Drew, who heads the trustees’ harbor management committee, noted that the addition declined by LIPA would have been sited in the same waters as the South Fork Wind Farm, which includes the fish-rich Cox’s Ledge.

Mr. Drew also said that Deepwater Wind’s exploration of an alternative southern route for the South Fork Wind Farm’s transmission cable, a route that would bypass Gardiner’s Bay, was “a positive for our inshore commercial and recreational fisheries.”

The harbor management committee will meet again on Aug. 16, with Deepwater Wind officials attending.