Wind energy contract deadline pushed back

The deadline for companies to finish up contracts covering part of the state s slow-to-start wind power plans has blown by once more without any deals in place and will again be pushed this time to the end of the year The June deadline to execute wind vitality contracts comes following a request for proposal from the Healey Administration for the state s fourth and largest offshore wind solicitation According to a spokesperson for DOER the companies who bid on the project are facing federal headwinds While the utilities and developers continue their hard work to memorialize the bids in binding contracts the uncertainty created by the changing federal landscape makes it demanding to finalize contracts Lauren Diggin stated on behalf of DOER This is at least the fourth time the companies behind the proposed project Unitil National Grid and Eversource Power have indicated they will need more time to complete contract negotiations The original deadline was on Aug When that passed the deadline was moved to the following November and then January On March it was pushed to June The companies majority modern letter dated June says that things have grown a complicated since March Due to ongoing uncertainty caused by federal level events the counterparties have not yet completed their contract negotiation they wrote setting new dates of December to finish negotiations and February to file with the DPU Despite the delay Diggin stated the Bay State remains committed to the idea of wind power Massachusetts is committed to an all-of-the-above approach to vigor including offshore wind Offshore wind produced locally in Massachusetts will help lower costs create thousands of jobs and move us toward strength independence she informed the Herald