(MM)
A MAJOR DEVELOPMENT
TODAY--
HUNDREDS OF NEW JOBS
ARE EXPECTED--
TO BE CREATED HERE IN
THE OCEAN STATE.
THIS COMES ON THE
HEELS OF THE
ANNOUNCEMENT LAST
WEEK--
THAT RHODE ISLAND
CLEAN ENERGY
DEVELOPER--
DEEPWATER WIND--
WILL BUILD A LARGE
OFFSHORE WIND FARM.
EYEWITNESS NEWS
REPORTER JARED PLINER
HAS MORE ON THE PLAN--
LIVE FROM THE MOBILE
NEWSROOM.
(JP)
A FORMAL
ANNOUNCEMENT HERE AT
THE PORT OF
PROVIDENCE TODAY.
SOME DETAILS PROVIDED.
OTHERS NOT YET.
ON HOW MUCH OFFSHORE
WIND POWER WOULD
COST LOCALS - OFFICIALS
SAY THAT WON'T BE
KNOWN UNTIL
NEGOTIATIONS WITH
NATIONAL GRID.
A new, ambitious push for
offshore
wind power.
"What today's about is this is a
birth
of a new industry, and it's
happening
in Rhode Island."
Local clean energy developer
Deepwater Wind forecasting job
creation tonight for its up to
50-
turbine wind farm in federal
lease
waters between Block Island and
the Vineyard.
Over 800 construction jobs; 50
permanent ones. And a $40
million
investment in local ports,
according
to the company.
But will the power be affordable
for
Rhode Island customers? What's
already produced from several
turbines off Block Island is
pricey.
24 cents a kilowatt hour and
growing.
The governor with this bold
prediction:
"It's a fraction. Less than
half."
"This project is dramatically
larger.
So with scale, costs come down.
And the technology is just
advancing rapidly. Turbines are
bigger, they're more efficient."
Grybowski says the turbine
components would be built both
in
and out of state.
"Really significant fabrication
and
construction construction
activity
right here in ProvPort, and in
Quonset."
A win, Deepwater says, for clean
energy, for jobs, for consumers.
But
what about commercial fishing?
"A lot of Rhode Islanders make
their
living as fishermen. And so we
are
going to make sure we take their
interests into account and do
this in
a way that protects their
livelihood."
Fishing industry advocates are
nowhere near convinced and warn
a bad fate is coming.
"We are swapping a food source,
and our fishing community, for
wind
power."
(JP)
MORE OF THOSE
CONCERNS COMING UP AT
6. BY THE WAY, A HOPEFUL
PROJECT TIMELINE -
CONSTRUCTION
BEGINNING BY 2020. THE
POTENTIAL START OF
OPERATION - 2023. JARED
PLINER EYEWITNESS
NEWS.
(HE)
TONIGHT, GOVERNOR
GINA RAIMONDO AND
OTHER STATE OFFICIALS
ARE TOUTING THE
HUNDREDS OF JOBS
EXPECTED TO BE
CREATED BY A NEW WIND
FARM.
(MM)
BUT MEMBERS OF
ANOTHER MAJOR RHODE
ISLAND INDUSTRY, SAY----
THE PROJECT COULD
THREATEN THEIR
LIVELIHOOD ---
EYEWITNESS NEWS
REPORTER JARED PLINER
HAS THE NEW DETAILS,
LIVE FROM THE MOBILE
NEWSROOM.
At 5 we told you more about
the planned offshore wind
farm in federal lease waters
between Block Island and the
Vineyard. But could a fight be
brewing with the state's
fishermen, concerned about
the industry's future?
Deepwater Wind today forecasting
more than 800 construction jobs,
50
permanent ones, and much cheaper
wind power than what exists now
from its up to 50-offshore
turbines
planned.
The company says this is a win
for
so many. Even for commercial
fishermen.
"Our turbines are spaced about a
mile apart. So there's a lot of
room
to operate. Fishermen can
continue
to fish in those waters. But in
order
for that to work out, we need to
work
collaboratively with them."
Fishing industry advocates, like
the
Fishermen's Alliance Richard
Fuka,
are very worried.
"We're swapping a food source,
and
our community, for wind power."
"We already abide by 340 spatial
regulations. So we can't just
legally
relocate."
Plus concerns about the
destruction
of species...
"More than half of the squid
caught
on the East Coast is landed in
the
state of Rhode Island. And you
run
the very real risk of losing
that
resource."
"We're putting our fishing
community at risk by expediting
and
moving too quickly. We don't
know a
fraction of the facts."
The wind farm could be
underway by 2023.
The governor today also
pledged to work with
fishermen on this.
They want a seat at the table
and a good deal of data. JP
EWN.