Massachusetts offshore wind project that Biden visited is no more as Trump retakes office
Published in Political News
A $300 million offshore wind cable plant development project in Somerset that President Biden visited in July 2022, ushering in the country’s transition to clean energy, is off the table after its Italian developer walked away from it.
The Prysmian Group backed out of its nearly three-year endeavor of gaining necessary local and state permits on Friday, days before President-elect Trump retakes office, saying it wouldn’t purchase the land needed for the effort.
“Prysmian is continuously evaluating market opportunities for our capacity to be aligned with demand,” the company said in a statement, “to best serve our customers’ needs and to also carry out efficient and timely investments.”
“As a result of the consideration, including the strong growth opportunities in the U.S. and global cable markets,” the company added, “Prysmian has decided to not proceed with the purchase of the land in Somerset.”
Local officials and offshore wind advocates expressed concern and sadness around the development as critics welcomed the news, tying it to how Trump is exploring a moratorium on all offshore wind projects.
Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss called Prysmian’s decision to walk away from its submarine cables factory at Brayton Point “disappointing and discouraging.”
“Donald Trump has unraveled (the) promise of good jobs by threatening a moratorium on offshore wind,” Auchincloss said in a statement Friday night, “generating so much uncertainty that companies pull back investment.”
The Prysmian Group did not explicitly connect its withdrawal from the project to Trump’s cutdown threat.
Biden delivered a pledge to fight climate change at Brayton Point in July 2022, choosing the former coal-fired power plant as the embodiment of the transition to clean energy that he sought but struggled to realize early in his presidency.
Paul Diego Craney, spokesman for state watchdog Massachusetts Fiscal Allance, an offshore wind critic, told the Herald Saturday that he “can’t stress the symbolic importance enough” of Prysmian backing away from the project just days before Trump retakes office.
“It shows you that the offshore wind industry doesn’t work unless you have federal subsidies to prop it up,” Craney said, “and those subsidies will hopefully come to an end next week.”
“Why this should be celebrated news for every Massachusetts resident” he added, “is because offshore wind prices are extremely expensive and this was going to be pushed down our throats for us to have to purchase this energy.”
State Rep. Justin Thurber, a Republican who represents Somerset, wrote in a Facebook post that Prysmian officials told him “the customers are inconsistent and the market isn’t there” to sustain the project
Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison for Seafreeze Shoreside Inc., told the Herald she’s excited for what is to come once Trump is sworn in.
Seafreeze is a Rhode Island-based commercial fishing company that has sued the federal government in the past, arguing regulators have failed to analyze how offshore wind projects would impact the environment and fishermen.
“The Prysmian pullout of Brayton Point is a clear signal that President Trump’s policies are already having an effect, even before he takes office,” Lapp told the Herald on Saturday. “For the fishing industry, it’s a huge relief that we finally have someone to help save our fishing grounds from offshore development.”
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