Plugging In/ Energy/ Environment

A first step on offshore wind

Stories from Vineyard Wind’s ceremonial groundbreaking

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FEDERAL, STATE, and local officials gathered on Cape Cod Thursday for a ceremonial groundbreaking for Vineyard Wind, the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the United States.

It was a day for back-slapping, congratulations, and the telling of stories, but it was also the dawn of what many hope will be an energy revolution in Massachusetts and the United States. It’s a revolution that started late – it took three years for Vineyard Wind to win its federal clearance to proceed with construction – and one that needs to move into high gear quickly.

“I don’t think it should have taken this long. I really don’t,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “But if we truly want to get where we need to go as fast as we need to go on this stuff, we have got to figure out a way to move a little faster.” 

Katie Theoharides, the governor’s secretary of energy and environmental affairs, said the state needs to move a lot faster. Vineyard Wind at full buildout is an 800-megawatt project that is currently scheduled to start producing some power in 2023. She said Massachusetts will have to bring 1,000 megawatts of offshore wind power online every year starting in 2030 to reach the state’s net zero emissions goal by 2050. 

The local angle: The groundbreaking took place at Covell’s Beach, a beautiful stretch of sand in Centerville, one of seven villages that make up the town of Barnstable. The beach is where the power lines from the 62-turbine wind farm 35 miles out to sea will come ashore before connecting to a substation further inland. The beach is a bit of a construction mess now, but Lars Pedersen, the CEO of Vineyard Wind, promised there will be no evidence of a power line except a manhole cover when the work is completed. 

The project will be a boon for Barnstable. The host community agreement calls for Vineyard wind to make payments of at least $1.5 million each year in property taxes and host community payments, plus an additional $60,000 annually for each year the project is in operation beyond 25 years. Connecting the power line to the substation will require opening up streets to lay the cables, and the town will piggyback on that work laying new sewer lines at the same time. 

“We’ll save the town millions of dollars,” Pedersen said. 

The national angle: US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the Biden administration is planning a rapid buildout of offshore wind, with the goal of deploying 30 gigawatts (30,000 megawatts) by 2030. That’s a very ambitious target, and House Speaker Ron Mariano is on board. “We know that the waters off Massachusetts, with our high winds and shallow waters, have the potential to deliver at least one-third of all the president’s goal,” he said. That would be 10,000 megawatts. Massachusetts has contracted for 1,600 megawatts so far, and is currently running a procurement for another 1,600 megawatts, with another procurement for 2,400 megawatts authorized but not even started yet. In total, that’s 5,000 megawatts, only halfway to the goal Biden has set.

Gov. Charlie Baker walks away after the ceremonial groundbreaking for Vineyard Wind at Covell’s Beach in Barnstable on Cape Cod. (Photo by Bruce Mohl)

Better get going: Mariano has a plan to speed things up. “We’re ready, governor, to authorize changes in the procurement legislation,” he said. The speaker said Rep. Jeffrey Roy of Franklin, who was at the groundbreaking, is drafting the new legislation. “We better get going Jeff,” Mariano said.

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Bruce Mohl

Editor, CommonWealth
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About Bruce Mohl

Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.

About Bruce Mohl

Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.

The speaker said he has made personal sacrifices for offshore wind. He recalled a 2016 legislative fact-finding trip to Denmark. He arrived at his hotel in Copenhagen lugging a big suitcase and discovered he had 15 minutes to get ready for an event. He discovered the hotel had no elevator and his room was on the fourth floor. “I was running up the stairs when I heard a pop [in my knee],” he said. Mariano finished the trip (and later required a knee replacement), which Pedersen said showed the speaker’s dedication to offshore wind.

Unofficial motto: On the day after Vineyard Wind won its power contract in May 2018, Pedersen said he received a text from the company’s lobbyist, Christian Scorzoni of Travaglini Scorzoni Kiley. The text featured a picture of Scorzoni and Baker giving the thumbs up along with a message: “Gov. says congratulations and don’t screw it up.” Pedersen confided another word was actually used instead of screwed. “Those words became the unofficial motto of the project,” Pederson said.  

What’s at stake: Sen. Julian Cyr of Truro became quite emotional talking about Vineyard Wind and what it means for climate change and Cape Cod. “What we do today and what we do over the next 10 years is going to determine whether the people that come after us are going to actually stand on this beach or if this beach is going to be here,” he said. “Are they going to make a life here – or not?”

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