(NEW LONDON—WTIC News) “We have some catching up to do,” said Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (D), adding, “It was a costly interruption.”
Lamont, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT2), Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee (D) and union workers gathered Tuesday at City Pier in New London to celebrate the court-ordered resumption of work on Revolution Wind, the $6.2 billion wind farm in the Atlantic intended to produce 700 megawatts of electricity.
The project went on “pause” a month ago when the Interior Dept. issued a “stop work” order, claiming national security concerns. Monday, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction allowing work to resume.
Lamont said that work will start Wednesday, as crews ship huge blades from New London to the site south of Rhode Island where 65 massive wind turbines are being assembled in challenging conditions.
Executive Director Mike O’Connor of the Connecticut Port Authority says 47 turbines have been completed, with 18 left to finish. He thinks the work can be done by the end of the year.
Both governors called the resumption an economic boost, with hundreds of employees going back to work and affordable electricity to be produced when the finished project goes live.
“When these wind turbines are spinning in less than a year,” said Lamont, “it’s gonna bring down the price of electricity because it brings down peak pricing during the winter months, which is the most expensive time.”
The wind farm will produce enough electricity to power 350 thousand homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
National security concerns about the project were alleviated years ago, according to Rep. Courtney, who says the Department of Defense “stated that this project ‘would have no adverse impacts to DOD missions in the area.’ Again, this question has been asked and answered.”
Still, objections to Revolution Wind resurfaced this year as part of the Trump Administration’s all-out effort to derail renewable energy programs.
Lamont says he’s been telling the White House about Connecticut’s need for more energy production, with an emphasis on renewables, but not excluding natural gas and nuclear. “We’re working very closely with the Trump Administration,” says Lamont. “We’re doing everything we can, not just… at State Pier, but what we can do to add on additional energy across our region.”
Asked how he can negotiate with an administration whose leader makes false claims about renewables, such as claiming the power will go out in neighborhoods when the wind dies down, Lamont said, “Ignore the insanity. Talk to people who we can be constructive with in terms of where we want this state, where we want this region to go in terms of reliable, low-cost energy.”
The month-long project delay kept sidelined workers like Kevin Reardon of Millwrights Local 1121 away from the construction site. Still, he says he and his co-workers have been working onshore, and they have been paid in the interim:
“I’ve been back on the Revolution project. We’ve been in port in New London for the past couple weeks.”
Reardon adds that at first, “We had no idea what we’d be doing, whether we were gonna be going out to work, whether we were going to be staying home, how long the delay was gonna be. Pretty much in limbo.”
That "limbo" ends Wednesday.