Wind Farm Leapfrog: Has Rhode Island Pulled Ahead of Massachusetts in the Race to Build the First Offshore Wind Farm?

Several of the Institute for Energy and the Environment's Research Associates are also members of the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law (VJEL). We analyze recent events and write assessments on frontier issues of environmental law. In my most recent piece, I take a look at the recent NY Times article that suggested Rhode Island may have surpassed Massachusetts as the leader in the race to develop the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. I disagree with the article's implication, but I do assert than the Rhode Island siting regime may be the new model and to that extent, Rhode Island has caught up to and passed Massachusetts. The impetus to analyze this issue originated last fall, when Danielle Changala and I represented the Institute at the New England Regional Ocean Law and Policy Workshop in Rhode Island.

Here is an excerpt:

Since mid-2001, the U.S. energy community has expected that the first American offshore wind farm would be located just off of Massachusetts, in the waters of Cape Cod. However, due to astonishing legal and regulatory delays, Massachusetts still does not have an offshore wind facility. Meanwhile, as reported in the New York Times ("Massachusetts and Rhode Island Compete Over Wind Farm") in April 2010, Rhode Island has developed its own offshore wind farm siting regime, which may prove superior to Massachusetts' permitting and siting regime. Unlike in Massachusetts, where a private developer initiated the permitting process, Rhode Island has decided that it will make the siting and planning decision, then choose a private developer to execute the state's vision. Currently, Massachusetts and Rhode Island appear to be at the head of the pack in offshore wind farm siting.

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