B.I. wants ‘large sum’ of money from National Grid in exchange for granting the utility more time on $107M project

NEW SHOREHAM – A $107 million development project slated to bring power to-and-from Block Island has hit a snafu this week, as the utility company heading the venture has rejected a request from the town for a “large sum” of money in exchange for granting an extension of time for the project.
National Grid PLC, the state’s largest utility company, is working toward installing a bi-directional power cable from Rhode Island’s mainland to Block Island, known formerly as New Shoreham. The undersea cable would effectively connect the island to the mainland’s electric grid.
The project, however, is taking more time than expected because of some drilling issues on the mainland at Scarborough Beach in Narragansett. And the delay forced the utility on April 20 to request an extension of time from the town to allow continued work on an easement. National Grid, however, says the town is not accepting the request, as was first reported in The Block Island Times, and has instead “requested that National Grid pay a large sum to the Town of New Shoreham (Block Island) for purposes some of which we know to be unrelated to the project,” said the company in a statement.
Company spokesman David D. Graves declined to disclose the requested amount of money, but did say it was enough for the company to reject the town’s conditions. The town manager and council members could not be immediately reached for comment.
The 20-mile cable is a part of a larger system, designed to carry power from Deepwater Wind LLC’s 30-megawatt offshore-wind project – slated for completion this year – to the mainland through Block Island. A second cable will carry the power from the five turbines – located about three miles south of the island – to the town for consumption. Whatever power is leftover will carry on to the mainland, meeting about 90 percent of Block Island’s demand and about 1 percent of Rhode Island’s. In times of high demand on the island, or should there be intermittency from the wind turbines, Block Island energy consumers will be able to draw electricity through the cable from the mainland grid.
At the moment, however, the project’s future timeline is unclear unless the town and National Grid can come to an agreement on the time extension, which is set to expire May 15. The company has requested an extension through June 30.
“The company has rejected that condition and is reviewing its construction schedule and will contact the council at the appropriate time,” National Grid said in its statement. “This is an important project for the company and for the residents and businesses of Block Island, who stand to directly receive the project’s benefits.”

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