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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBob Schulte_Re_ 9_1_23 Providence Journal Article - NOI - Park City WindFrom: Bob Schulte <bob.a.schulte@gmail.com> Sent: Friday, September 1, 2023 3:52 PM To: Karle, Darcy; Fat Piu Lee; Ells, Mark; Tracy Shaughnessy; Jessica Rapp Grasse; Eric Steinhilber; Precinct3 Ludtke; Paula Schnepp; Paul Neary; Mahew Levesque (mahewlevesque02648@gmail.com); Krisne Clark; Gordon Starr; Jeffrey Mendes; Nikolas Atsalis; Jen Cullum; Paul Cusack; Lovell, Cynthia Subject: Re: 9/1/23 Providence Journal Arcle - NOI - Park City Wind Dear Ms. Karle and Mr. Lee, I ask that you please: 1) forward this email and link to the 9/1/23 article from the Providence Journal to all of the Commissioners' individual email addresses, and 2) add it to the comments folder for the Continued NOI - Craigville Beach and 2 Short Beach Road, Centerville - Park City Wind, LLC. This is being submitted and requested will before your 8 hour cutoff before the 9/54 meeting - even considering the 9/4/23 holiday. https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/environment/2023/09/01/panel-representing-fishermen-alleges- state-favors-offshore-wind-developers/70736730007/ Regards, Bob Schulte Centerville, MA This board advises the state on offshore wind's impacts on fisheries. They all just resigned. Alex Kuffner Providence Journal PROVIDENCE – All the members of the panel that advises state coastal regulators on the impacts of offshore wind on fisheries have resigned in protest of what they charge is a process that unfairly favors developers. A resignation letter signed by the nine members of the Fishermen’s Advisory Board was sent to the Coastal Resources Management Council Thursday night. “It has become abundantly clear that the Rhode Island CRMC has made deference to offshore wind developers its top priority regardless of the requirements of the Ocean SAMP, the cost to the environment, or the impacts to Rhode Island’s fishing industry,” they wrote, referring to the Ocean Special Area Management Plan, the state document that guides offshore wind permitting. 'Wholesale ocean destruction' They say the council has ignored the board’s concerns and downplayed the potential negative impacts on fish stocks and marine habitats of the construction of large wind farms in the Atlantic ocean waters off the Rhode Island coast. “We will not allow our names to be connected in any way to Council approvals now amounting to wholesale ocean destruction,” the board members wrote. “Rhode Island is supposed to be the Ocean State, not the Windmill State.” The letter was signed by Lanny Dellinger, Chris Brown, Michael Marchetti, Greg Mataronas, Chris Lee and Brian Thiebault, all commercial fishermen; Rich Hittinger, a recreational fisherman; charter boat captain Rick Bellavance; and Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison for seafood distributor SeaFreeze. More:Like big boats? There will be plenty to see thanks to wind farms. Here's how to track them The coastal council did not immediately comment on the resignations. Ørsted and Eversource, the companies behind several of the projects that have been the subject of the board's concerns, declined comment. What led to the resignations The resignations come after a series of decisions by the coastal Council over the past four- and-a-half years that have helped clear the way for the development of four utility-scale wind farms in an area of ocean between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard. Two of the projects – 84-turbine Vineyard Wind and the 12-turbine South Fork Wind Farm – are being built offshore this summer and are expected to begin at least partial operations before the end of the year. A third, 65-turbine Revolution Wind, started onshore construction late last month. The fourth, 84-turbine Sunrise Wind, received authorization from the coastal Council just last week. They're coming after construction of the first offshore wind farm in the nation, a five-turbine test project in state waters near Block Island that went into operation in 2016 and was planned with deep involvement from the fishing community. While all the new projects are located in federal waters and require final approval from the U.S. Department of the Interior, the coastal Council was awarded authority more than a decade ago to review all offshore energy proposals in the region that would impact Rhode Island’s interests. Those interests are primarily related to fishing. Under the permitting process, the Council decides whether projects are consistent with state coastal policies. In each case that has come before the coastal Council so far, its members, who are nearly all appointed by the governor’s office with approval from the Senate, have voted in favor of certification. The votes have come despite the objections of members of the fishermen’s board, who argue that offshore wind development will not only shut them out of important fishing grounds during construction but would also interfere with navigation and pose safety risks after wind farms go into operation. They’ve accused both Governor Dan McKee and his predecessor, Gina Raimondo, of ignoring their concerns, with at least one member going so far as accusing the former of making an appointment to the coastal Council to ensure a favorable decision for one of the offshore wind projects. Trouble started with Vineyard Wind because the project location occupies waters valued for squid, Rhode Island’s biggest fishery. Tensions grew with the next three projects because they are located around a submerged area known as Cox Ledge, a rocky habitat known to be a critical spawning habitat for Atlantic cod and other valuable species. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, the developers of Vineyard Wind, agreed to set up a fund to compensate fishermen for any losses, and so too have Ørsted and Eversource in relation to their projects. But the developers and the fishermen’s board have been far apart on how much those funds should be worth. In the latest application for Sunrise Wind, the board asked for a $177 million compensation fund while the developers offered $17.6 million. The coastal Council agreed to the latter figure. Hittinger, a retired environmental consultant who is first vice president of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association, also wrote a separate resignation letter. He said that in his previous work he reviewed development proposals under the National Environmental Policy Act and that the review process for offshore wind is not nearly as comprehensive. He argued that oversight has been sacrificed to clear the way for the Biden administration’s push to develop 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by the end of the decade. The permitting process, he wrote, has become “a one-sided push by developers with no requirement for realistic discussion of or consideration of potential impacts of these major changes in our shared marine environment, effectively a rubber stamp of the political desires of Washington, D.C.” On Aug 30, 2023, at 8:29 PM, Bob Schulte <bob.a.schulte@gmail.com> wrote: All, I am forwarding you an email which I sent to the Barnstable Conservation Commission (BCC) care of Tom Lee and Darcy Karle and ask that you please take the time to read it. I requested Ms. Karle and Mr. Lee forward my email to all BCC members and post it to the NOI - Park City Wind Comments file. As my email was sent several days before the 8 hour cutoff requested by the BCC for comments, I trust my request will be completed well in advance of the 9/5/23 meeting at 6:30 pm. Regards, Bob Schulte Centerville, MA ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Bob Schulte <bob.a.schulte@gmail.com> Date: Wed, Aug 30, 2023 at 4:20 PM Subject: NOI - Park City Wind (8/30/23 News Articles Regarding Troubles in Offshore Wind Industry) To: Karle, Darcy <darcy.karle@town.barnstable.ma.us>, <tomfplee@gmail.com> Cc: Swails-McCarron, Heather <hmccarron@capecodonline.com>, Bob Schulte <bob.a.schulte@gmail.com> Dear Ms. Karle and Mr. Lee, I ask that you please: 1) forward this email to all of the Commissioners' individual email addresses, and 2) add it to the comments folder for the Continued NOI - Craigville Beach and 2 Short Beach Road, Centerville - Park City Wind, LLC. I believe the Commissioners will find the two articles included below of significant interest. If they don't, then the public deserves an explanation on 9/5/23 as to why the financial uncertainties/risks being faced by the applicant, Avangrid, and its proposed Park City Wind project aren't relevant to the decision(s) to be made by the BCC. As the CEO of Orsted is quoted in the Bloomberg article (8/30/23), the "situation in U.S. offshore wind is severe''. If Orsted, the largest player in offshore wind development, is experiencing such serious financial difficulties, can Avangird and its proposed Park City Wind project be far behind? As the Commissioners are no doubt already aware, Avangrid announced last fall that the Park City Wind project was no longer financialy viable and has since been trying to renegotiate the project's Power Purchase Agreements with the CT utilities and Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA). Does the BCC really want to approve a project that either never ends up getting built, or even worse, starts trenching/digging under Craigville Beach, the Centerville River, and the streets of Centerville only to get abandoned by a Limited Liability Company that runs out of money or files bankruptcy? In my opinion, the financial uncertainties surrrounding the offshore wind industry in general and the Park City Wind project in specific must be considered by the BCC. To do otherwise, would simply be looking at this project in a vaccum and not considering all relevant facts. Regards, Bob Schulte Centerville, MA cc: Heather McCarron, Cape Cod Times https://news.yahoo.com/finance/news/orsted-shares-plunge-company-warns- 101633418.html Orsted Shares Plunge as Company Warns of $2.3 Billion US Hit · Interest rates, tax credit talks add to potential impairments · Wind developer ’s stock price falls the most on record (Bloomberg) 30 August 2023 -- Orsted A/S shares plunged the most on record after the renewable energy company warned of impairments of as much as 16 billion Danish kroner ($2.3 billion) to its US portfolio because of supply chain issues and soaring interest rates. The drop of as much as 23% was the steepest since the company’s 2016 initial public offering and erased the equivalent of about $7 billion in market value. It’s a further blow to the offshore wind industry struggling with soaring materials costs. The company’s Ocean Wind 1, Sunrise Wind, and Revolution Wind projects in the US are being hurt by supplier delays, which could lead to writedowns of up to 5 billion kroner, it said late Tuesday. High interest rates could also add another 5 billion. In addition, the developer is still in talks with federal stakeholders to qualify for additional tax credits, which haven’t progressed as expected. If unsuccessful, it could lead to impairments of as much as 6 billion kroner. “While the bulls could argue many of these issues related to the impairment are already known, the announcement is unlikely to bode well for an already-weakened Orsted share price,” Citigroup Inc. analyst Jenny Ping said in a note Wednesday. “We continue to see a number of challenges to offshore wind,” including affordability and fierce competition. Orsted’s troubles are the latest in a series of struggles for the wind-power industry, just as countries around the world demand more of the clean energy technology. Rising supply chain costs have clouded the outlook for some developers’ revenue, with others facing turmoil from critical mechanical issues. “Further signs of supply chain headwinds on the offshore segment may spur a bigger focus on onshore wind and solar development,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Patricio Alvarez said. Share Decline Orsted shares are down about 30% this year, trading at their lowest since January 2019. The stock has also weighed on the European Renewable Energy Index this year, while other wind developers such as RWE AG, EDP Renovaveis SA and Vestas Wind Systems A/S dropped on Wednesday as well. Orsted earlier this month reported a decline in earnings for the second quarter, pressured by weak wind speeds and lower margins in some divisions. Still, it expects its return on capital employed target for the 2023-2030 period at about 14%. Wind Power Is in Crisis Just When the World Needs It Most In another sign of the stressed industry, Swedish developer Vattenfall AB halted a UK project last month as surging costs made it no longer viable. Meanwhile, Siemens Energy AG has tried to delay the delivery of new wind turbines from its 5.X platform amid flaws in its machines. Orsted said it will continue to press on with US near-term offshore wind projects and work to mitigate supply delays. Still, Danske Bank said the impairments “will have no bearing” on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and it could also also reduce the company’s development capital expenditure budget. “Our overall impression from this is that it is only slightly credit negative,” the bank said in a note. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/worlds-largest-offshore-wind-farm-maker-crashes- most-record-after-catastrophic-results Wo rl d 's L a r ge s t Offsho re Wi n d F ar m-Ma k e r C r a s he s M o s t On R e co r d Aft er Ca t a strop h i c R e s u l t s BY TYLER DURDEN WEDNESDAY, AUG 30, 2023 - 11:05 AM Shares of the world's largest offshore wind farm developer crashed in Copenhagen trading on Wednesday after it warned: "The situation in US offshore wind is severe." Orsted A/S was hit with a massive 16 billion Danish kroner ($2.3 billion) impairment on its US portfolio due to snarled supply chains, soaring interest rates, and easy money tax credits drying up -- a warning sign the green energy revolution bubble is in trouble. CEO Mads Nipper warned investors on a conference call: "The situation in US offshore wind is severe." Shares in Denmark-listed green energy giant crashed 25%, the largest daily decline since it went public in early 2016. Bloomberg explained more about the headwinds plaguing Orsted: The company's Ocean Wind 1, Sunrise Wind, and Revolution Wind projects in the US are being hurt by supplier delays, which could lead to writedowns of up to 5 billion kroner, it said late Tuesday. High interest rates could also add another 5 billion. In addition, the developer is still in talks with federal stakeholders to qualify for additional tax credits, which haven't progressed as expected. If unsuccessful, it could lead to impairments of as much as 6 billion kroner. Analysts at Bernstein warned clients in a note: "Today's announcement flags risks in the US portfolio and does not do anything to improve the downbeat investor sentiment on the stock." "While the bulls could argue many of these issues related to the impairment are already known, the announcement is unlikely to bode well for an already-weakened Orsted share price," Citigroup Inc. analyst Jenny Ping told clients. Analysts across the board were overwhelmingly pessimistic about the news (list courtesy of Bloomberg): BNP Paribas Exane (cut to neutral from outperform) The potential write-down of DKK16b dwarfs the DKK2.5b impairment announced in January, analyst Harry Wyburd writes in a note Investor confidence will probably be "compromised" for some time UBS (buy) Sam Arie puts the focus on which targets will remain valid in this context Says today's announcement is a negative and somewhat of a surprise Adds investors may be concerned in the change in tone since the June CMD where management seemed more confident in regulatory changes that would help to protect the return profile of these US projects Jefferies (buy) The update is a "clear negative," analyst Ahmed Farman (buy) writes in a note The impairments are equivalent to as much as ~7% of the Danish power generator's market capitalization Still, Jefferies says recent share price weakness suggests the market hasn't priced in "much value" in the company's near- term US offshore pipeline RBC (sector perform) Alexander Wheeler also calls it a clear negative, with further doubt cast on the overall outlook for US projects, which many believed had been resolved at the capital market day With ~$4bn invested in the US projects to date, the impairment of up to DKK 16bn ($2.4bn) represents just over half of the overall value The DKK5b supplier charge is believed to be the maximum number, while on interest rates, if rates stay at current levels then the DKK 5b will be the impact booked at 9M We ought to label Orsted's crash as the 'Green Panic.' Bulls eager to ride the climate energy revolution might want to rethink their mid-term views. CAUTION:This email originated from outside of the Town of Barnstable! Do not click links, open aachments or reply, unless you recognize the sender's email address and know the content is safe!