For a dozen years the economic and environmental promise of wind energy has alternately tantalized and frustrated Rhode Island leaders.
The state’s early bet on what is still a nascent industry in this country has yet to fully pay off. But for once, it seems, delays that have long derailed or stalled every major project in the region may actually benefit Rhode Island.
In recent years, New Bedford’s port appeared to have jumped ahead of Rhode Island as a ready staging ground for large-scale wind projects. That was largely because the Ocean State’s ports lacked needed infrastructure, even though they were used for the small Block Island Wind Farm.
But ports in Providence and North Kingstown are now being upgraded and more work is planned, some of which is included in $56.5 million proposed by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo.
In this week’s cover story, Steven J. King, managing director for Quonset Development Corp., which operates North Kingstown’s Port of Davisville, acknowledged that the port is better-positioned today for a long-anticipated surge in offshore wind projects.
There’s no certainty a surge will happen but a federal agency in June offered what the industry saw as a positive review of an 84-turbine project proposed off Martha’s Vineyard. If that project gets a final approval in the fall, it could finally clear the way for a 50-turbine wind farm planned off Rhode Island’s southern coast.
We urge the General Assembly to put Gov. Raimondo’s bond request, which includes offshore wind development, on the November ballot and for voters to approve it.
