Nantucket's Big, Beautiful Blunder

It’s always been about the optics.

The optics of the Nantucket Select Board signing the original Good Neighbor Agreement in August of 2020.

The optics of the damaged GE Vernova Halide-X blade dangling perilously above the ocean from Vineyard Wind’s turbine in July of 2024.

The optics of Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moeller, and later, State Senator Julian Cyr, sheepishly walking out of a Select Board meeting.

The optics of the “non-toxic” debris washing up on our south shore beaches.

And now, the optics of a $10.5 million settlement paving the way for the establishment of a “Community Claims Fund” to help compensate those negatively impacted economically by the blade failure disaster.

The net effect after attorneys’ fees is roughly $8.7 million headed to Nantucket and local businesses. That’s nothing to sneeze at, and with an independent third party hired to review claims and dole out the checks, I feel confident the money won’t end up in Nantucket’s black hole for a new dump, but instead, in the pockets of island business owners such as Gaven Norton and ACK Surf School who deserve it.

Ironically, the announcement came two days shy of the one-year anniversary date of the blade failure, which must have acted as some sort of impetus to get the deal done. Whatever the reason, $8.7 million is nice, but like Icarus, the optics of Nantucket agreeing to this settlement while remaining an active member of the Good Neighbor Agreement will burn your eyes.

Frankly, there is no logical reason why this community is forced to walk hand-in-hand with Vineyard Wind via the Good Neighbor Agreement. In fact, there have been several opportunities to honorably withdraw. If there ever was a moment to connect all the dots and make that known, it was last Friday with $8.7 million in the bank along with the potential to clear the town’s conscience.

For example, October 23, 2024, would have been an ideal time to cut the cord.

That’s the date the Maria Mitchell Association withdrew from the Good Neighbor Agreement due to Vineyard Wind’s “failure to meet its obligation”. Unfortunately, the Select Board and Cultural Heritage Partners whiffed there, too.

From several reliable sources, I was told Nantucket knew this move was coming, but when Maria Mitchell’s board voted unanimously to boldly exit the agreement, Nantucket wilted. Instead, they remained tight-lipped and in step with the international energy investors who continued to pile drive off our south coast beaches.

Additionally, the Select Board has ignored non-binding resolutions at Town Meeting, brushed aside citizen petitions, avoided calls from the Nantucket-based non-profit ACK For Whales to join in their litigation, and silenced the Nantucket community with draconian restrictions in public meetings, all to satisfy its responsibilities to the Good Neighbor Agreement. And now, with Cultural Heritage Partners at their side, our Select Board has charted a dichotomous legal course that has them recently filing an appeal in the U.S. District Court challenging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for green lighting the SouthCoast Wind project on one side, while cuddling up to Vineyard Wind as co-signers of the Good Neighbor Agreement on the other.

Optically, this is a head-scratcher.

For those of you who are not familiar with SouthCoast Wind, it represents the second wind farm project off Nantucket’s south shore and adjacent to Vineyard Wind. It was a parting gift from former President Biden, who permitted the project on one of his final official days in office. If fully built out, it will result in 140 additional turbines tipping out at 1,050 feet tall, added to the 62 turbines earmarked for Vineyard Wind at roughly 855 feet tall.

Nevertheless, Nantucket remains an active member of the Good Neighbor Agreement despite the fact that the Select Board’s litigious posture towards SouthCoast Wind is diametrically opposite from the town’s actions in 2020 when they jumped lock, stock, and barrel behind Vineyard Wind.

In the afterglow of Friday’s announcement, our Select Board’s bi-polar legal approach has it citing numerous complaints against SouthCoast Wind, such as inadequate environmental impact studies and misleading visual simulations that would compromise Nantucket’s historic and cultural resources, while standing behind Vineyard Wind.

Five years ago, experts were well aware that the Vineyard Wind project compromised Nantucket’s historic and cultural resources. Additionally, there were questions about Vineyard Wind’s inadequate environmental impact studies, and objections were noted regarding misleading visual simulations minimizing the impact on Nantucket. And yet, the Select Board voted unanimously to support Vineyard Wind and the Good Neighbor Agreement.

Why the abrupt change of heart?

How can the Nantucket Select Board reconcile suing SouthCoast Wind while supporting Vineyard Wind as co-signers of the Good Neighbor Agreement?

Did settlement discussions and the $8.7 million heading our way influence the decision to sue SouthCoast Wind but remain in the Good Neighbor Agreement?

I reached out to Greg Werkheiser, founding partner of Cultural Heritage Partners, who serves as Nantucket’s special legal counsel on offshore wind, for a comment, but I have not received a response.

Additionally, I reached out to Select Board chair Dawn Hill Holdgate, one of the two remaining members of the board who signed the original GNA on behalf of the town of Nantucket, for an answer, but I have not received a response.

Perhaps once the dust settles, the community will hear more, but I am not optimistic. As I mentioned earlier, $8.7 million is serious coin, but it comes with the inescapable quid pro quo of our silence.

Clearly, the unwritten warning is there. Despite what Select Board member Brooke Mohr and Cultural Heritage Partners might have you think, paragraphs 9A & 9B from the Settlement Agreement and Release announced on Friday state:

9A: “Any portion of a public statement that Nantucket intends to make related to the settlement that references the GE Vernova Released Parties will be subject to pre-approval by GE Vernova…”

9B: “Nantucket will not make any public statements concerning the Incident or the GE Vernova Released Parties response to the Incident that disparages the GE Vernova Released Parties in any manner. Statements made in violation of Section 9A will constitute a material breach of the Agreement”.

When Nantucket officials have to have their public statements scrubbed by GE Vernova - and it better be positive - that’s a gag order in my world.

Certainly, there is much to cheer about when island businesses can recoup some of their damages via the “Community Claims Fund.” However, it is essential to remember that not only did some businesses suffer, but the entire Nantucket community will continue to suffer long-lasting damages as a result of these wind farms planted off our coast. Whether it is in the form of additional blade failures, collateral environmental damage, or the fact that there are no “deconstruction” funds set aside for these wind turbines that will now sit on our horizon for generations to come as visible eyesores, we have all lost.

Personally, I get satisfaction knowing some locals will be reimbursed for damages. However, the one silver lining for me is the hope that there is more to come than just one announcement. Instead of another blade falling, there must be another shoe to drop because Vineyard Wind cannot get away scot-free.

Maybe Friday’s announcement is the first of several. Maybe Cultural Heritage Partners has something cooking despite the rumors of radio silence from Vineyard Wind since February. Maybe our Select Board is playing it coy with an ace up their sleeve as their rhetoric towards Vineyard Wind turns more surly and abrasive.

Whatever it is, one can only hope, but the fact remains that this has been One Big Beautiful Blunder since day one in August of 2020.

It’s time to end this nightmare and sever ties with Vineyard Wind and exit from the Good Neighbor Agreement.