Block Island cable reburial project to resume in October

NATIONAL GRID will be reassembling at the Town Beach on Block Island to rebury a section of its exposed 34,500 volt subsea cable. During reinstallation in May the utility company experienced a blockage in the conduit pipe that is needed for installing a section of the cable. / PBN PHOTO/CASSIUS SHUMAN

NEW SHOREHAM National Grid Rhode Island will be reassembling crews on Block Island in October with the intent of reburying an exposed portion of a specially designed 34,500 volt electrical subsea cable.

The cable is a component of the Block Island Wind Farm’s electrical transmission system, linking the island to the mainland, and contains fiber optic cable that is being utilized to construct the island’s broadband network.

Installation of the section of replacement cable was paused in May due to a blockage in a high density polyethylene conduit pipe installed from the Town Beach parking lot by using horizontal directional drilling up to 40 feet under the seabed. The project had been scheduled for completion by Memorial Day.

National Grid said that it will be using a camera to diagnose the blockage issue and consult with the pipe installer and cable installer to ensure a successful cable installation.

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Ted Kresse, spokesman for National Grid, said the company is “still finalizing details for mobilization. Once [crews] have begun their work, we will have a better sense of what blockages still remain and what needs to be done to complete the work successfully. We will provide a new timeline once those assessments are complete.”

“It’s too soon to estimate how project costs could be impacted by this delay, and the same goes for any potential bill impacts to National Grid customers,” he said.

National Grid’s subsea cables experienced noticeable shallowing in the surf zone at the beach in 2018, causing the town of New Shoreham to request a reburying of the cables.

After some contentious wrangling back and forth with town officials, the utility company placed a protective sleeve around the exposed cable while trying to determine a plan for the project. The company attempted to install a new section of the cable in the spring by threading the cable through the conduit pipe from an offshore barge to a manhole in the Town Beach parking lot before encountering the blockage issue.

National Grid previously estimated that the cost of the cable reburial project would be $31 million.

Jeffery Wright, president of the Block Island Power Co., said if blockage of the pipe is not resolved, it could lead to increased costs that could be passed onto ratepayers. The power company would also have to rely on its old diesel fuel powered generators to power the island if additional outages are required to accommodate the project.

“I hope it works because I don’t want to see it incur any more costs than they need to,” said Wright, noting that National Grid has set a 10-14 day window for performing the work.

“Who’s going to bear the costs?” Wright asked. “You know ultimately we’re going to take it on the chin through the Block Island Transmission System charge”

The BITS charge as its known, is the cost passed on by National Grid to the island’s 2,000 ratepayers, and Rhode Island’s ratepayers, for the cost of the cable’s installation and maintenance.

Wright said if National Grid exceeds its 10 day reburial window, additional costs could be passed onto ratepayers.

“The less costs they incur, the less of an argument we’re going to have,” said Wright, who has been involved in litigation on behalf of BIPC with National Grid regarding its upcharge from $500,000 to $1.8 million for substation installation on BIPC property, which Block Island ratepayers are paying for through charges.

The power company’s case is pending in R.I. Supreme Court and scheduled to be heard in December.

Another problem Wright said would be if National Grid has to reinstall the conduit pipe at the beach.

“I don’t know what that is going to cost,” Wright said. “The pipe is blocked. They can’t get anything through it. This pipe is about 1,750 feet long. It starts in the parking lot at the beach pavilion and runs out into the water.”

“If they couldn’t run a cable through it last time I am unsure what they can do to unblock it this time,” Wright added. “And if it’s compromised, what’s to say it isn’t going to be compromised in the future?”

New Shoreham Second Warden Sven Risom said it is disappointing that National Grid is having an issue resetting the cable. The priority, he said, is safety at the beach, as well as concerns for costs, and reliability, and issues it might create for Block Island’s $8 million broadband network project.

“It will be fixed. It has to be fixed,” he said. “The hope is National Grid will be able to clear out the conduit. Obviously, if they can’t that poses a longer-term bigger issue.”

“I am, and I think we all are, trusting that the current plan will work,” he added. “Let’s hope it can be done this fall.”

As for Orsted A/S, the company that is the owner and operator of the wind farm, the developer reburied its cable in May without issue. The company threaded its cable through a conduit pipe and spliced it as scheduled at the beach. Orsted’s cable links the wind farm to the island’s power grid.

Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Shuman@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @CassiusShuman.

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