On Wednesday, the Rhode Island Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) held a public hearing on the SouthCoast Wind project at Portsmouth Middle School. The SouthCoast Wind project is in Massachusetts waters and has been approved to build the turbines, but a critical part of the project involves Rhode Island. To get the wind power from the turbines to the regional
About 20 miles of electric cables must pass through Rhode Island waters and Aquidneck Island to reach the transmission system at Brayton Point in Somerset.
Proponents and opponents of wind energy filled the middle school auditorium, and the three-member EFSB listened for over four hours. Twenty-seven people spoke in favor of the project, noting the benefits of cheaper, more environmentally safe energy and the jobs the construction of the project will bring. Twenty-six people spoke against the project, most seemingly regurgitating the talking points of fossil fuel-backed…
