Nantucket Asserts Vineyard Wind Violated Its Agreements With The Town And Federal Agencies

Vineyard Wind has violated its agreements with Nantucket and federal agencies, and the Select Board will soon announce a detailed set of demands for corrective actions, the town announced on Thursday.

Nantucket officials and attorneys will hold a press conference next Tuesday, July 29th, at 9:30 a.m. regarding "Vineyard Wind's failure to meet its legal and public commitments to the community," according to the announcement.

Members of the Select Board will also call on Vineyard Wind's owners, regulators, and elected officials "to join Nantucket in demanding accountability."

The press conference will include a question-and-answer session following prepared statements by the Select Board members.

Select Board chair Brooke Mohr declined to comment on the violations alluded to in the announcement on Thursday, stating, "We will answer any questions at the press conference."

The town of Nantucket and Vineyard Wind remain parties to the so-called "Good Neighbor Agreement" that was signed in August 2020, along with the Maria Mitchell Association and the Nantucket Preservation Trust. The deal bound the town and those organizations to commit their support to the offshore wind energy project in exchange for $16 million to mitigate the potential historical, cultural, and economic impacts of the turbines on Nantucket. Vineyard Wind also agreed to several other concessions, including the removal of the row of turbines closest to the island, painting the turbines a “non-reflective off-white/light gray color to blend into the horizon” and installing an aircraft detection lighting system (ADLS) which will only turn on if there is an aircraft in proximity to the turbines.

However, the Good Neighbor Agreement has been widely criticized by island residents opposed to the Vineyard Wind project, and following the blade failure in July 2024, which sent debris onto Nantucket's beaches and beyond, those objections have only grown louder. The non-profit group Keep Nantucket Wild submitted a petition to the Nantucket Select Board last year, signed by more than 2,000 individuals and hundreds of businesses, urging the town to withdraw from the agreement with Vineyard Wind as well.

While the Maria Mitchell Association withdrew from the pact in October 2024, alleging that the offshore wind company had breached the terms of the agreement, the town and the Nantucket Preservation Trust remain signatories. 

The town of Nantucket recently announced a $10.5 million settlement with GE Vernova, the manufacturer of the wind turbine blade that failed, that will compensate island businesses that suffered losses as a result of the blade failure. Although it was not a signatory to the agreement, Vineyard Wind directly benefited from it, as the settlement releases the company from all liability related to the blade failure.

Earlier this year, in the waning days of President Joe Biden's administration, BSEE lifted the suspension order for the project with the condition that GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind remove more than 60 defective blades that were already installed at the wind farm.

The suspension order was lifted even though BSEE had not completed its long-promised independent investigation into the blade failure and the cause of the incident. Six months after Vineyard Wind was allowed to resume construction, and a full year after the blade failure, BSEE has still not completed the investigation.

"BSEE's comprehensive and independent investigation is ongoing," an agency spokesperson wrote in an email to the Current on Tuesday. "There is no timetable for the completion of the investigation, as BSEE focuses on ensuring that the investigation is thorough and complete."

In September 2024, BSEE ordered Vineyard Wind to complete a study evaluating the "environmental harm" caused by the blade failure. But that study, too, has not yet been completed.

The promised aircraft detection lighting system, or ADLS, which was one of the supposed concessions the town received for signing the Good Neighbor Agreement with Vineyard Wind in 2020, also remains incomplete. The system will utilize radar to ensure that the lights at the top of each turbine activate only when an aircraft is close to the wind farm area. Currently, dozens of lights blink in unison at the Vineyard Wind farm and are clearly visible from the south shore during the night.

In recent months, the offshore wind developer has ceased almost all communication with the media, on its website, and on social media platforms.

Even the town has not heard from Vineyard Wind since the damaged wind turbine was struck by lightning in February 2025, according to Select Board member Brooke Mohr. At that time, Vineyard Wind once again delayed notifying the town of the lightning strike, which the Select Board called "unacceptable."

The rhetoric from members of the Select Board regarding Vineyard Wind has certainly shifted over the past six months.

“We as a board, and the community at large, even more vehemently, really feel misled by the representations we were given back in 2020," Select Board member Dawn Hill Holdgate said in February. “The visual simulations we were given were not accurate. The promises on the lighting, they have been fully lit for quite a long time now. That never should have happened. The safety and the environmental impacts on the sea life are just far greater than the information we were provided when we were offered a financial settlement based on just the visual impact on our historic landmark, which again is far more impactful than the simulations we were shown."

When the settlement with GE Vernova was announced, the Select Board stated: "The Town has found Vineyard Wind wanting in terms of its leadership, accountability, transparency, and stewardship in the aftermath of the blade failure and determined that it would not accept Vineyard Wind as a signatory to the settlement."