New England officials claim that the US's decision to halt a wind project is a mystery.
Business and government leaders in New England claimed that the Trump administration's decision to stop work on a nearly finished wind farm near the coast of Rhode Island is a threat to grid reliability and jobs, and it defies any explanation. Connecticut and Rhode Island state leaders demanded information from the Trump administration on why the order was issued late Friday to stop work on the Revolution Wind project. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, in its letter to Orsted project developer, cited concerns about national security that were not specified.
They say that there are national interests at stake. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat Senator from Connecticut, told his fellow state leaders at a Monday press conference to "come clean and reveal them." If you don't want to do it publicly, then give us a private briefing. We have top-secret clearance."
A spokesperson from the Interior Department which supervises BOEM declined to comment about the stop-work orders.
ISO New England (which operates the grid in 6 states) and North America's Building Trades Unions (an alliance of building and Construction Unions) also expressed concerns.
The grid operator of 15 million people, ISO, said: "The ISO expects this project to be online and is included in our analysis of near-term grid reliability and future grid security." "Delaying this project will increase reliability risks."
The NABTU stated that the order affected 1,000 members.
In a press release, NABTU President Sean McGarvey stated that "a'stop-work' order is a fancy bureaucratic phrase, but it only means throwing off skilled American workers after they have spent a decade building and delivering." The Revolution Wind project was due to be completed in the next year, and would have produced enough electricity to supply 350,000 homes across Rhode Island and Connecticut. Orsted shares, based in Denmark fell to new lows on Sunday.
Donald Trump, the Republican president of the United States, has repeatedly criticised wind energy for being ugly, unreliable, and expensive. His administration has taken measures to curb wind development. This includes launching a national-security investigation into the imports of turbines and component parts.
Green Oceans in Rhode Island, which opposes this project because of its negative impact on the coastal communities and ocean habitats said that it was happy with the order.
The group stated that "this decisive action shows that the federal government has finally recognized the seriously flawed permit process that allowed the project to proceed and others." Reporting by Nichola Kroom in Los Angeles, and Laila Kearney from New York. Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Nia Williams and Nia Williams
(source: Reuters)
