Chris Perry Column: A Lump Of Coal

Was it the autopen?

That’s the only possible answer that I can come up with.

Crafted by Greg Werkhesier of Cultural Heritage Partners and announced last Thursday, the Memorandum of Understanding between Vineyard Wind 1, LLC and the Town and County of Nantucket could have slipped by members of the Select Board.

Let’s be fair. Their agenda packets are full of papers, reports, minutes, notes, and legal opinions. Consequently, maybe they did not see a copy of the six-page document. If that’s the case, it’s quite possible that the autopen went to work perfectly matching the chairperson’s signature from the Good Neighbor Agreement in August of 2020 to the one on last week’s Memorandum of Understanding.

What else could it be?

For the past five years, the Nantucket community has been questioning how in the right world could the Select Board unanimously support the original Good Neighbor Agreement which, among other things, required the Nantucket community to support and promote Vineyard Wind’s agenda including participating in “a long-term, productive and mutually beneficial relationship with one another" while eviscerating Nantucket’s leverage and ability to negotiate on a level playing field.

The Select Board wouldn’t do something like that again, would they?

In fact, when former Select Board chair Brooke Mohr and legal counsel Werkhesier performed a duet at an orchestrated, invitation only press conference last July “demanding accountability from Vineyard Wind, BOEM and BSEE," I thought there was a ray of hope peeking through the GE Vernova Haliade - X blades that the Select Board had learned its lesson from previous failures of not negotiating in the best interest of the Nantucket community when they announced 15 specific demands of Vineyard Wind and formally asking for a written response by August 12th.

What did we get six months later?

The community got a new 14-point agreement between Nantucket and Vineyard Wind that does not appear to be much different from the Good Neighbor Agreement. The Memorandum of Understanding does not provide any financial compensation to Nantucket; it does not provide guarantees of mitigation if there is a repeat blade failure; it does not set aside escrow money for future deconstruction or repairs; it does not set up guidelines to suspend new projects in the event of a major failure;  and it confirms that a mediator’s recommendations are non-binding.

But what is equally troubling for the Nantucket community is that the memorandum condones the dangerous de facto gag order that has been in place since the Select Board signed the original GNA with language that allows Vineyard Wind “up to 4 days to review all of the Town’s public communications regarding offshore wind…”

It has to be an autopen. The Select Board wouldn’t agree to something like that again, would they?

Unfortunately, they did.

According to Select Board member Mohr, who spearheaded the negotiations “on behalf of ‘my’ community”, “I’m really excited about the ongoing relationship…”

Not to be outdone, Greg Werkheiser of Cultural Heritage Partners, who heads the town’s legal team for offshore wind matters, was quick to add in an interview with the Current’s JohnCarl McGrady, “These are real-world measures that will meaningfully improve the community’s ability to protect the island”.

Klaus Skoust Möeller, CEO of Vineyard Wind 1, LLC, has to be feeling jolly and full of good cheer, thinking Christmas has come early. Not once, but twice, Nantucket’s Select Board has signed on the dotted line, partnering with Vineyard Wind in an agreement that falls woefully short.

As a member of the Nantucket Community, I’d like to think I am open-minded enough to impartially consider Mohr and Werkheiser’s position despite their insistence on charting Nantucket’s offshore wind course from behind closed doors. I would also like to think that I have enough Christmas spirit to believe in the Select Board’s integrity when they voted unanimously to support the original Good Neighbor Agreement in 2020 and now fall in line again with Vineyard Wind via the Memorandum of Understanding.

But, I can’t.

As Groucho Marx once said, “Be open-minded, but not so open-minded that your brains fall out”.

From the town’s perspective, this announcement was perfectly timed and right out of their playbook. It is eerily similar to their Christmas Eve proclamation via town e-news, announcing a joint meeting with BOEM. That meeting was quickly postponed and later cancelled, once again stifling the voters’ ability to debate the subject in public with their elected officials. Now, with the community basking in the glow of a terrific Stroll weekend and preoccupied with Christmas shopping, the Select Board has announced the Memorandum of Understanding with representatives, calling it “robust” with “clear definitions that we can rely on” with their partner Vineyard Wind, who has been nothing but unreliable from day one.

Frankly, I should have known this was coming. The writing was on the wall for everyone to see when the Select Board signed a $10.5 million settlement with GE Vernova. Even though Vineyard Wind did not sign the agreement, they were indemnified in Section 4 of the settlement, further reducing the Select Board’s leverage with Vineyard Wind. Consequently, when it came time to negotiate the 15 demands with the Nantucket Select Board, Vineyard Wind looked across the table at the JV team and dragged their feet, knowing Nantucket had little to no leverage to press the matter.

Completely understated is the fact that the Memorandum of Understanding has far-reaching implications. For example, it signals the Nantucket community’s continued public support for Vineyard Wind via the Select Board’s actions despite the fact that there is clear evidence to the contrary.

Secondly, it further demonstrates the Select Board’s eagerness to partner with Gov. Maura Healey and her unrealistic and unattainable goals of replacing dispatchable energy with 1.6 GW of offshore wind power by 2027. Skepticism is growing around the reliability of offshore wind. Moreover, skyrocketing expenses associated with the construction and maintenance of offshore wind turbines are causing investors such as Orsted, Enel, Equinor, Shell, Mitsubishi, RWE, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners to pull out of some offshore wind projects despite hefty financial penalties. Nevertheless, the Nantucket Select Board decided to double down once again with Vineyard Wind in an industry that is losing steam and support.

Times are changing, and criticism is softening on the climate change debate. The Trump administration’s schizophrenic approach has offshore wind projects, and their staunch supporters, reeling as smart money is now being invested into reliable energy fueling such things as AI. However, this chaotic landscape provides the perfect cover for the Nantucket Select Board to gracefully sever its ties with Vineyard Wind. It may get ugly. It may mean some Select Board members will have to fall on their swords. But with each passing day, it is becoming increasingly clear that this relationship, memorialized by instruments such as the Good Neighbor Agreement and last week’s Memorandum of Understanding, does not bode well for Nantucket in the future.

Last week’s Memorandum of Understanding should have been the beginning of the end of our toxic relationship with Vineyard Wind. With a second bite at the apple, Nantucket had the perfect opportunity to end this nightmare, leaving us with sugar plums dancing in our heads.

Instead, the Nantucket Community got a lump of coal in its stocking.