Offshore Wind Is Off the Table in Oregon

1. Coos County, Oregon – We can confirm that opposition and waning industry interest have effectively killed the Beaver State’s first offshore wind lease sale.

• Late Friday, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management postponed an Oct. 15 lease sale for floating offshore wind citing “insufficient bidder interest” from only one of five companies identified as qualified to participate.
• And we’ve learned there won’t be a retry any time soon: BOEM spokesman John Romero confirmed in an email that the agency “does not have a timeline for determining a future opportunity for a potential lease sale in Oregon.”
• Shortly before the cancellation, Gov. Tina Kotek called for the lease sale to be nixed and pulled out of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s task force on Oregon’s offshore wind development after a chorus of concerns from coastal towns and tribes were echoed by the state’s two senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley. All these elected officials are Democrats, by the way.
• Last week, Mainstream Renewable Power Inc. told Oregon Public Broadcasting they’d no longer bid. Four other companies were qualified to bid: Avangrid Renewables, BlueFloat Energy, OW North America Ventures, and South Coast Energy Waters, a company backed by the CEO of solar developer NewSun.

2. Atlantic County, New Jersey – Some good news for offshore wind as a counterbalance: the Atlantic Shores wind farm got its final federal approval from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management yesterday.

• We expected this to happen, and we’ve previously explained that litigation will likely occur. But it’s still a major milestone. Even if Donald Trump wins, the project’s fate is now left for the courts to decide.
• There’ll still be fights over the project. One of the potential host communities for the cables, Sea Girt, is seeing local opposition crop up and intervention from its congressman Chris Smith. But the matter has gotten safer for the developer.

3. Montgomery County, Alabama – In Alabama’s capital city of Montgomery, residents opposed to solar power are campaigning for Montgomery to enact a blanket ordinance banning permits and site development plans.

• Their efforts have led the city council’s public works committee to study the matter. A study committee meeting on the proposal scheduled last week was derailed as Hurricane Helene began to make landfall without a new date.
• Residents took to the Montgomery city council last night and again asked for the moratorium. Some council members seemed receptive to the concerns, but so far no dice for the activists.
• Montgomery is home to several potential solar farms with promise for decarbonizing the Deep South, including projects being developed by Hecate Energy and Pinegate Renewables (not to be confused with Pine Gate Renewables, who we discuss below).

4. Litchfield County, Connecticut – The small New England city of Torrington, Connecticut doesn’t want any more solar panels.

• Torrington’s mayor Elinor Carbone wrote the state requesting they consider rejecting a proposed solar installation opposed by some residents in a neighboring condominium. Visuals and deforestation seem to be the big concerns.
• This comes from a municipality that only recently accepted battery storage and follows in the long tradition of Connecticut residents going back and forth on NIMBY vibes. (A decade ago they had banned wind entirely.)
• And Torrington’s solar projects overall seem to suffer from grumpy neighbors. See: this Verogy project dealing with complaints about overgrown grass.

Here’s what else we’re watching …

In Arizona, the city of Maricopa is opposing a roughly 1,100 acre solar farm proposed by Hidden Valley Ranch Partners.

In California, the city of San Marcos may soon formally oppose AES Corporation’s Seguro battery storage project.

In Illinois, officials in Clinton County have extended their wind moratorium through at least the end of this year.

In Kentucky, Lexington County’s planning commission has recommended against allowing large-scale solar farms.

In Michigan, the city of Detroit has filed eminent domain lawsuits to procure properties for community solar, a development backed by DTE.

In Minnesota, the city of Hugo is taking another stab at allowing some solar development after initially backing restrictions.

In Pennsylvania, Wilson Solar has offered to reduce the size of an 80 MW solar farm to assuage residents’ concerns. Jury’s still out on if it’ll work.

In Texas, a federal judge has halted work on Pine Gate Renewables’ Bandera solar farm amid a legal battle with landowners.