Nantucket Responds to Vineyard Wind’s ADLS Update & BOEM’s Reconsideration of Offshore Wind Litigation and Lease Areas
NANTUCKET, MA, UNITED STATES, August 4, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Vineyard Wind and ADLS
On July 29, the Town of Nantucket held a press conference to demand accountability from Vineyard Wind for its failure to honor its obligations under the company’s community benefit agreement with the Town. The Town’s demands included that the company, after numerous unexplained delays, finally activate technologies that reduce light pollution from offshore turbines.
In its first substantive response to the Town’s calls for accountability, Vineyard Wind announced yesterday that it had completed integration of ADLS into its existing turbines.
Subject to verification from the Town that the turbines are not just hooked up to the system, but that the system is working properly and reliably, the Town welcomes this announcement. The Town urges Vineyard Wind to focus its continued attention on significantly reducing the lag time between when lights get turned on and when ADLS reduces their impact on the night sky. Further, the Town renews its call for Vineyard Wind to provide regular public updates on ADLS deployment as new turbines are constructed.
The Town looks forward to Vineyard Wind’s timely response to the Town’s other demands related to improved communication from Vineyard Wind and integration of Nantucket and the public into emergency planning, which response the Town has requested by August 12.
Lease Area Withdrawal & Federal Government Review
Nantucket applauds the Department of the Interior’s July 29, 2025, announcement that it will strengthen guidance to ensure more meaningful consultation by the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management’s (BOEM) regarding offshore wind development, especially with coastal towns, Native Nations, and the fishing industry. Nantucket agrees that the construction and operation of industrial scale offshore wind farms disproportionately impact places like Nantucket. We welcome the opportunity to work with the Department of the Interior to inform updated guidance that will support greater collaboration, transparency, and respect for community, Indigenous, and regional priorities.
Brooke Mohr, Select Board member and former chair, stated, “The Department of the Interior has promised that local communities will have ‘a real seat at the table’ with offshore wind developers. We intend to hold the federal government to that promise.”
Nantucket also welcomes the Department of the Interior commitment to review the federal government’s position in outstanding litigation, including whether it should continue defending BOEM against Nantucket’s appeal of the South Coast wind project after BOEM’s failure to conduct meaningful consultation with Nantucket. Greg Werkheiser, attorney with Cultural Heritage Partners, counsel to Nantucket for offshore wind matters, stated: “Should the government cease to defend BOEM’s flawed consultation in South Coast and in other active appeals by coastal communities, it would have the profound effect of improving the quality of offshore wind development for decades to come by ensuring that developers listen to impacted coastal communities and Native Nations. That outcome will benefit everyone and the planet.”
In addition, yesterday BOEM rescinded designation of more than 3.5 million acres of unleased federal waters targeted for future offshore wind development. Nantucket continues to evaluate the accuracy of BOEM’s lease area maps, but suspects that the lease areas removed from consideration are much farther away from Nantucket’s shores than existing lease areas from Nantucket’s shores and thus would have presented fewer direct threats of harms to Nantucket’s marine life and heritage tourism driven economy. We note that the administration is not reconsidering existing leases, which means that hundreds of turbines are still slated to occupy most of Nantucket’s shorelines for decades to come.
Nantucket calls on BOEM to enforce federal law on existing offshore wind projects, as the Town demanded in its press conference earlier this week.
The Town’s Position
The Town reiterates its long-held position that it is pro-renewable energy development, as a means of addressing the crisis of climate change, but the Town stands firm in its commitment to ensure responsible development. Weakening federal environmental protections and consultation practices to favor green developers will result in those same protections being weakened for non-green energy development, thereby exacerbating our climate crisis.
# # #
Contact
Communications Office, communications@nantucket-ma.gov
Greg Werkheiser, Legal Counsel, greg@culturalheritagepartners.com
About the Town of Nantucket. The Town of Nantucket, a 14-mile-long, 3.5-mile-wide island located 30 miles off Cape Cod, is celebrated for its rich maritime history, preserved colonial-era architecture, and stunning natural beauty. Over 50% of the island’s land is protected for conservation, and its 82 miles of public beaches and iconic lighthouses make it a destination for history lovers and nature enthusiasts alike. Nantucket, Tuckernuck, and Muskeget together comprise the Nantucket Historic District, designated a National Historic Landmark—the highest recognition for cultural significance in the United States. Visit https://www.nantucket-ma.gov.
For more information about Vineyard Wind, the turbine blade failure settlement, and the 2020 Community Benefit Agreement, visit: https://nantucket-ma.gov/2895/Vineyard-Wind
On July 29, the Town of Nantucket held a press conference to demand accountability from Vineyard Wind for its failure to honor its obligations under the company’s community benefit agreement with the Town. The Town’s demands included that the company, after numerous unexplained delays, finally activate technologies that reduce light pollution from offshore turbines.
In its first substantive response to the Town’s calls for accountability, Vineyard Wind announced yesterday that it had completed integration of ADLS into its existing turbines.
Subject to verification from the Town that the turbines are not just hooked up to the system, but that the system is working properly and reliably, the Town welcomes this announcement. The Town urges Vineyard Wind to focus its continued attention on significantly reducing the lag time between when lights get turned on and when ADLS reduces their impact on the night sky. Further, the Town renews its call for Vineyard Wind to provide regular public updates on ADLS deployment as new turbines are constructed.
The Town looks forward to Vineyard Wind’s timely response to the Town’s other demands related to improved communication from Vineyard Wind and integration of Nantucket and the public into emergency planning, which response the Town has requested by August 12.
Lease Area Withdrawal & Federal Government Review
Nantucket applauds the Department of the Interior’s July 29, 2025, announcement that it will strengthen guidance to ensure more meaningful consultation by the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management’s (BOEM) regarding offshore wind development, especially with coastal towns, Native Nations, and the fishing industry. Nantucket agrees that the construction and operation of industrial scale offshore wind farms disproportionately impact places like Nantucket. We welcome the opportunity to work with the Department of the Interior to inform updated guidance that will support greater collaboration, transparency, and respect for community, Indigenous, and regional priorities.
Brooke Mohr, Select Board member and former chair, stated, “The Department of the Interior has promised that local communities will have ‘a real seat at the table’ with offshore wind developers. We intend to hold the federal government to that promise.”
Nantucket also welcomes the Department of the Interior commitment to review the federal government’s position in outstanding litigation, including whether it should continue defending BOEM against Nantucket’s appeal of the South Coast wind project after BOEM’s failure to conduct meaningful consultation with Nantucket. Greg Werkheiser, attorney with Cultural Heritage Partners, counsel to Nantucket for offshore wind matters, stated: “Should the government cease to defend BOEM’s flawed consultation in South Coast and in other active appeals by coastal communities, it would have the profound effect of improving the quality of offshore wind development for decades to come by ensuring that developers listen to impacted coastal communities and Native Nations. That outcome will benefit everyone and the planet.”
In addition, yesterday BOEM rescinded designation of more than 3.5 million acres of unleased federal waters targeted for future offshore wind development. Nantucket continues to evaluate the accuracy of BOEM’s lease area maps, but suspects that the lease areas removed from consideration are much farther away from Nantucket’s shores than existing lease areas from Nantucket’s shores and thus would have presented fewer direct threats of harms to Nantucket’s marine life and heritage tourism driven economy. We note that the administration is not reconsidering existing leases, which means that hundreds of turbines are still slated to occupy most of Nantucket’s shorelines for decades to come.
Nantucket calls on BOEM to enforce federal law on existing offshore wind projects, as the Town demanded in its press conference earlier this week.
The Town’s Position
The Town reiterates its long-held position that it is pro-renewable energy development, as a means of addressing the crisis of climate change, but the Town stands firm in its commitment to ensure responsible development. Weakening federal environmental protections and consultation practices to favor green developers will result in those same protections being weakened for non-green energy development, thereby exacerbating our climate crisis.
# # #
Contact
Communications Office, communications@nantucket-ma.gov
Greg Werkheiser, Legal Counsel, greg@culturalheritagepartners.com
About the Town of Nantucket. The Town of Nantucket, a 14-mile-long, 3.5-mile-wide island located 30 miles off Cape Cod, is celebrated for its rich maritime history, preserved colonial-era architecture, and stunning natural beauty. Over 50% of the island’s land is protected for conservation, and its 82 miles of public beaches and iconic lighthouses make it a destination for history lovers and nature enthusiasts alike. Nantucket, Tuckernuck, and Muskeget together comprise the Nantucket Historic District, designated a National Historic Landmark—the highest recognition for cultural significance in the United States. Visit https://www.nantucket-ma.gov.
For more information about Vineyard Wind, the turbine blade failure settlement, and the 2020 Community Benefit Agreement, visit: https://nantucket-ma.gov/2895/Vineyard-Wind
Communications Office
Town and County of Nantucket
+1 508-228-7200 ext. 7066
email us here
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