Trump Cancels Key Meeting for Vineyard Wind Expansion

1. Dukes County, Massachusetts – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management canceled a key meeting required for the environmental review of Vineyard Offshore’s expansion into the New York bight, in what appears to be the first time the agency has publicly canceled offshore wind review meetings for projects in the Atlantic Ocean since Trump took office.

• BOEM had previously canceled a meeting for offshore wind leases in the Pacific. But this new move, which was announced late Tuesday evening, indicates the administration is not only limiting final approvals for new offshore wind leases but also procedural steps historically done in the permitting process for individual projects.
  
• BOEM published a notice it would start the environmental impact statement process for the Vineyard Mid-Atlantic project in the final days of the Biden administration. The project would generate more than 2 gigawatts of power, according to the agency.
  
• In a brief public statement, the agency said it was canceling virtual meetings for the environmental impact statement that were scheduled today. BOEM cited Trump’s executive order targeting offshore wind that paused “new or renewed approvals, rights-of-way, permits, leases, or loans for offshore wind projects” – at least until the government does a purported review of the offshore wind industry.
  
• What’s unclear still is why this executive order triggered canceled meetings. How is a gathering for comment considered an approval or a permit? Does this mean BOEM’s putting a stop to any and all staff activity related to offshore wind?
• I asked BOEM these questions and I will let you know if I hear back. Based on what we’re hearing is going on at other agencies, this doesn’t bode well for wind developers.

2. San Luis Obispo County, California – The ballooning Moss Landing battery fire PR crisis is now impacting other battery projects in the surrounding area.

• Origis Energy’s Caballero battery storage project in San Luis Obispo is now facing fierce local opposition citing the Moss Landing event, with residents calling for their own temporary battery storage moratoria.
  
• The catch is, Caballero’s construction is near completion after being approved by county regulators three years ago. According to local TV station KEYT, county supervisors have declined to take up requests to block the project “particularly due to potential litigation the county could face if they were to try and reverse the approval.”
• I’m watching the backlash to Moss Landing spread outside of California, too.
• The town of Duanesburg, New York, last week banned battery storage facilities within its municipal limits, with officials referencing the battery fire on the West Coast to make the case these facilities are somehow a hazard to public health and the environment.

3. Marshall County, Indiana – We have what might be the wildest moratorium we’ve seen passed so far in Fight history: a ban on solar farms, carbon capture, battery storage, and data centers – all at once!

• Marshall County commissioners enacted the 2-year moratorium on all these tech facilities earlier this week unanimously in a quick vote. It is the first time I have found decarb facilities banned by a county in tandem with data centers.

Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on…

In Alabama, a new Silicon Ranch solar proposal in Montgomery County is running into local ire (which is predictable at this point in this region).

In Louisiana, Ascension is getting grilled by residents near a carbon capture test well.

In Massachusetts, National Grid canceled a geothermal heating pilot project.

In Michigan, Ranger Power’s solar project in Tuscola County is facing some familiar “prime farmland” criticism.

In Nebraska, Midwest Electric Cooperative Corp. won a permit from Perkins County commissioners to build a solar project.

In North Carolina, NextEra Energy’s Muscov solar project is reportedly facing delays due to local opposition.

In Wisconsin, Invenergy’s solar project in Janesville is facing concerns from the local state representative – who is a Democrat.