Rhode Island’s plan to bring in more offshore wind power appears at risk of washing away after a fourth delay to a scheduled contract signing with a project developer.
Caroline Pretyman, a spokesperson for Rhode Island Energy, confirmed in an email Monday that the utility provider has again extended negotiations with SouthCoast Wind, citing uncertainty over federal legislation affecting offshore wind projects. The news comes the same day the two parties were set to ink an agreement locking in commitments and pricing for Rhode Island to buy 200 megawatts of wind-powered electricity from the project planned south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
And, it’s less than a month before a public hearing on the proposed cable burial plan for the wind turbines, which requires state regulatory approval to cross Aquidneck Island.
A new schedule posted to Rhode Island Energy’s offshore wind procurement website Monday afternoon sets a new deadline of Nov. 1 to finalize a contract, with an important caveat.
“Rhode Island Energy may terminate the project’s conditional selection if negotiations are not successful prior to this date,” the company states in the update. It’s the first time the utility supplier has acknowledged the possibility that the tentative agreement might be canceled.
Pretyman said additional details were not available Monday.
But the ongoing uncertainty is hardly a surprise given the current climate in D.C.
President Donald Trump made good on his anti-wind campaign promises the day he took office, with a first-day executive order halting new offshore wind leases. SouthCoast Wind already secured the bulk of the federal approvals prior to the change in administration. But the project is now facing delays in securing the last three federal permits needed to move forward, Michael Brown, CEO for Ocean Winds, the project’s parent company, said in a June 10 affidavit included in a legal challenge to the administration over its wind directives.
The federal agencies reviewing the permit applications cited Trump’s Jan. 20 memo as the reason for delays, Brown said in the affidavit. He specifically mentioned that pending agreements with Rhode Island and Massachusetts utility providers were at risk.
“Without clarity on when or how issues arising under the Presidential Memorandum will be resolved, it may be impossible for the parties to execute the PPAs,” Brown wrote.
Rhode Island Energy may terminate the project’s conditional selection if negotiations are not successful prior to this date.
Brown’s written testimony is part of a lawsuit led by 17 state attorneys general, including Rhode Island’s Peter Neronha, seeking to stop the Trump administration from halting the offshore wind sector. The lawsuit continues to play out in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, with a Sept. 4 hearing on whether a federal judge should issue a ruling in the case, according to the court docket.
Brown said Monday resolving the dispute over Trump’s offshore wind memo was “critical” to the future of the company’s project.
“It is critical that the special review called for by the Presidential Memorandum be resolved as soon as possible to ensure that regulatory instability does not jeopardize the viability of large infrastructure projects like SouthCoast Wind,” Brown said. “We are grateful for the continued collaboration with our Massachusetts and Rhode Island partners.”
The cost of walking away
SouthCoast has already invested more than $600 million over the last seven years in developing, permitting, engineering and other preparations related to its project, according to court filings. Walking away now means giving up that investment, as well as the expected profits from selling power.
Meanwhile, Rhode Island’s foothold in the still-nascent offshore wind sector, as well as its ability to meet mandated decarbonization benchmarks, rests upon buying more offshore wind power.
A single offshore wind project like the 704-megawatt Revolution Wind project under construction south of Block Island can offset over 1 million metric tons of carbon emissions each year — just shy of 10% of the gross greenhouse gas emissions tracked from Rhode Island in 2022.
The 200 megawatts of additional “nameplate capacity” from SouthCoast would provide enough electricity to power another 125,000 homes in the Ocean State, and even more — 1.4 million homes — in Massachusetts, based on its tentative agreement to buy the remaining 1,087 megawatts of power from the project.
Massachusetts utility providers have also pushed back the deadline to finalize a contract with the project developers to no later than Dec. 31, Lauren Diggin, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, said in an email Monday.
If approved, power contracts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts would also need to be reviewed and approved by their respective state utility regulators, who have final authority over long-term renewable energy contracts. Rhode Island’s newly revised schedule sets a Dec. 31 deadline for a final contract and price agreement to be submitted to the Public Utilities Commission. Previously, the contract was scheduled to be submitted to utility regulators by Aug. 25, based on a June 30 finalization.
Meanwhile, a separate state regulatory body, the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board, is forging ahead with its own, independent review of the project’s cable burial plan. A public hearing on July 23 at Portsmouth Middle School will offer the chance for in-person input on the plan to run underwater power lines up the Sakonnet River, cross the northern end of Portsmouth and extend out into Mount Hope Bay.
Meeting state decarbonization mandates
Despite setbacks, advocates remained bullish on the need to grow Rhode Island’s renewable energy portfolio, including through offshore wind.
A consortium of state agencies charged with planning how to meet the state’s mandated decarbonization benchmarks under the 2021 Act on Climate Law is expected to release a detailed report on next steps by the end of the year. Meanwhile, a five-member Senate study panel created in the 2025 legislative session will soon begin its own, complementary review of the Act on Climate law, with a report due in May 2026.
Sen. Sam Zurier, a Providence Democrat who sponsored the resolution to create the study commission, said the intent is not to water down the existing state emissions reduction mandates, but to determine how to meet them.
“If you look at the way our emissions reduction strategy was set up, it involves a lot of switching over from fossil fuels to electricity, and to have that electricity come from renewable sources,” Zurier said in an interview Monday. “With that said, there are different ways to accomplish that.”
Patrick Crowley, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO and co-chair of Climate Jobs Rhode Island, was also undeterred by the latest setback in SouthCoast wind contract negotiations.
“Delays can be frustrating, but the end result — a union-built, decarbonized economy — will be worth it,” Crowley said in a text message.
Gov. Dan McKee’s office referred inquiries for comment to the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources.
“We continue to monitor the potential outcomes and changes to federal renewable energy laws and tax credits being discussed within the reconciliation legislation in Washington,” Robert Beadle, a spokesperson for the state energy office, said in an email.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
