East Hampton Natural Resources Department Environmental Technician John Botos, who also serves as the town’s Climate Smart Communities Coordinator, outlined the town’s energy goals.
He said East Hampton was the first community in New York State to adopt a Climate Action Plan, and in 2013 completed a Comprehensive Energy Vision, which set the goals outlined in the town’s 2014 pledge to switch to renewable power.
The town is now looking to create a ‘microgrid’ of solar panel installations at public buildings, including police stations, the airport, fire stations, schools, the town hall complex and the Montauk Playhouse.
“There are a lot of moving parts, a lot of decision makers, and they’re not all in the same room together,” he said. “The East Hampton Town Board believes in these goals, but how do we influence other decision makers? We need to get the pieces of the puzzle to talk to one another.”
He urged members of the community to attend the rally at LIPA headquarters on Monday, or to write to Governor Andrew Cuomo in support of the Deepwater Wind project.
Deepwater Wind Vice President of Development Clint Plummer laid out his company’s plans, which rely on the great advances in offshore wind technology in recent years, which has brought down the price of turbines, making wind power competitive price-wise with fossil fuel-fired energy plants.
Deepwater Wind is currently constructing the first offshore wind farm in the United States — five turbines off of Block Island that can power the entire island.
Currently, about 1 million gallons of diesel fuel are brought to the island each year for use in their electric plant. Mr. Plummer said the wind farm will power the entire island, and bring down electric rates by 40 percent. It will also include a transmission cable that can send excess power to the mainland in Rhode Island.
While offshore wind has been very controversial in the United States, Mr. Plummer said Deepwater Wind has adopted a company culture of working with groups that have opposed offshore wind in the past, working with environmentalists to protect right whales, with the Narragansett Indian tribe to determine whether there are any ruins of ancient civilizations on the sea floor, and reaching out to commercial fishermen.
The Block Island project was the subject of some controversy over OSHA reports of unsafe conditions during the construction this past year of the bases for the turbines, but Deepwater Wind representatives say addressed those safety concerns.
Mr. Plummer said the project had “perfect environmental compliance and a better-than-average safety record.”
The Block Island turbines and the transmission cable to the island are expected to be installed this year.
Many members of the audience had detailed questions for Mr. Plummer.
“There are still some in the commercial fisheries community who’ve expressed concerns in Montauk,” said Mr. Cantwell. “I encourage you to work with commercial fishermen in Montauk with respect to this.”
“Building relationships with the fishing industry takes a long time,” said Mr. Plummer. “I believe we can thrive together. We’ve seen that happen in Europe and with Block Island. They’re dealing with declining yields and increasing regulations, and there’s a lot of uncertainty around that industry.”
Other members of the public worried about the long-held belief that windmills are dangerous to birds.
Mr. Plummer said Deepwater Wind kept two avian radar stations near the Block Island site for three years to monitor birds there, and will do the same with the Deepwater One site.”
He said that very few birds fly that far offshore, and most damage to birds comes from fast-spinning, smaller turbines than the ones used by his company.
“The machines themselves have changed dramatically,” he said. “They spin at six rpm, not 30. Most of the problems ave come from bad science, bad engineering and one bad project in Altamont, California.”
Mr. Plummer added that the turbines, whose blades are 600 feet above mean high water, are designed to withstand a Category 4 hurricane, and when the wind blows above 25 meters per second, the turbines automatically shut down, the blades feather, and the hub of the machine steers into the wind.
“I don’t know of any whose blades have come off” in a storm, he said.
Mr. Plummer said the Block Island project is being financed by the private equity firm D.E. Shaw, which has put in $100 million, and through $279 million raised by six banks.
“We’re 100 percent privately financed. That’s an important point, ” he said. “We’ve taken no government money. If we know we have a customer, we can build the project.”
Mr. Plummer did not explain the details of the bid offer to LIPA, which is a competitive bidding process, with about a dozen-and-a-half other applicants pitching conventional fossil fuel-powered plants, but he did say he believes Deepwater One’s bid is “competitive” with conventional fuel-powered plants.
“We will sell the power to LIPA under a long-term contract at a fixed price,” he said. “We take all the risk on whether the wind blows or not.”
“They get paid for the electricity they sell, and they’re taking the risk,” added Mr. Raacke. “Here we will know what we’re going to pay per kilowatt-hour for the next 20 years. With a commercial power plant, LIPA sings a blank check on our behalf.”
Mr. Botos said the group that plans to rally at LIPA headquarters Monday morning will be comprised of “you guys as individual rate-payers.”
“We pay the highest electricity rates in the continental United States,” he said. “Do you want to buy power from that smokestack in Northport or Island Park or from clean technology?”
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