Business Leaders Virtually Visit the Capitol for Business Clean Energy Day

Over 250 business and chamber executives meet with bi-partisan leadership to discuss importance of renewables to economic recovery

Last month, hundreds of business and chamber leaders came together for Virtual Business Clean Energy Day to meet with legislators and learn about the role clean energy will play in Massachusetts economic recovery. The all-day event was kicked off with an open speaking program. Participants heard from Secretary Theoharides, Representative Tom Golden, Senators Michael Barrett and Marc Pacheco, Surya Panditi from Enel X North American and Emily Reichert from Green Town Labs. Attendees heard about the Administration’s clean energy priorities for the 2020 session as well as for post pandemic recovery as well as priorities from clean energy sector companies.  After the opening session, business leaders and chamber executives enjoyed intimate conversations with bipartisan leadership including Undersecretary Judy Chang, Commissioner Patrick Woodcock, Representative Tom Golden, Senator Marc Pacheco, Senator Jamie Eldridge, Senator Michael Barrett, Representative Maria Robinson, Senator Bruce Tarr, and Representative Pat Haddad (the latter two were rescheduled for a different day per the needs of the legislators).  Virtual Business Clean Energy Day was a collaboration between CICE, Climate Action Business Association (CABA), the Alliance for Business Leadership (ABL), and the Northeast Clean Energy Council.

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Over 100 MA/CT Chamber Executives and Member Companies Hear from Vineyard Wind and MassCEC on the Burgeoning Clean Energy Opportunity

Last month over 100 chamber and business leaders from across the East Coast participated in CICE’s offshore wind webinar hosted by the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, One SouthCoast Chamber, Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. The webinar featured Bruce Carlisle from MassCEC, Jen Cullen and Nate Mayo from Vineyard Wind, and Rick Kidder from One SouthCoast Chamber who all spoke about the economic and workforce development opportunities offshore wind affords to the east coast. New England truly stands at the forefront of this new American energy industry with multiple large projects in development that will deliver thousands of megawatts of clean energy to the grid. The pipeline of offshore wind projects is estimated to deliver approximately $100 billion in economic investment, more than 80,000 jobs, and provide enough electricity to power millions of homes.  Attendees also heard about the importance for regional collaboration, ways to leverage local companies for the supply chain, and the status of CT/ MA offshore wind projects.  You can view a recording of the webinar on our Youtube channel here . You can view the presentation slides on our site here . CICE drafted a joint, multi-organizational sign-on letter of support to submit for chambers of commerce and businesses throughout New England- as seen in the section below. Signing onto this letter does not preclude you from sending your own letter as well.

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Sign onto Our BOEM Letter

Public Comment Letter to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in Support of Vineyard Wind 1 July 9, 2020 Vineyard Wind 1 COP Supplement to the Draft EIS Program Manager Office of Renewable Energy, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 45600 Woodland Road, VAM-OREP Sterling, Virginia 20166. Dear Program Manager, On behalf of New England chambers of commerce, businesses, and ratepayers, we support the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind development and urge you to grant its final permits to begin construction. After the release of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, more than ten years of exhaustive study and analysis, and extensive public consultation to determine where offshore wind could be built with the least possible impact on existing industries and the environment, it is our belief that the project should be approved to move forward without further delay. Offshore wind has a unique opportunity at this moment in time to benefit the US economy and environment. The pipeline of offshore wind projects is estimated to deliver approximately $100 billion in economic investment, more than 80,000 jobs, and provide enough electricity to power millions of homes.  New England stands at the forefront of this new American energy industry with multiple large projects in development that will deliver thousands of megawatts of clean energy to the grid. These projects will deliver competitively priced energy to the Massachusetts and Connecticut ratepayers and also bring thousands of high-paying jobs, considerable economic investment, and demand for a deep, regional supply chain.  It is also critical that BOEM approve the developer agreement for a 1x1 nautical mile layout throughout lease areas without the proposed Alternative F transit lanes. Developers have already conceded about 30% or 13,000 MW of clean energy capacity by accommodating fishing industry demands for a uniform layout, and further reduction through requiring transit lanes would translate to less clean energy for our region, fewer jobs created and significantly less economic benefits to our coastal communities. We encourage BOEM to move forward in accepting the compromise of the 1x1 layout without transit lanes as the best path toward encouraging coexistence of these two important industries. Vineyard Wind 1 represents the first major offshore wind development in the United States and following final permit approval will provide the needed certainty for future developments and capital investment along the East Coast. Along with the 3,600 jobs anticipated for the project, Vineyard Wind will also provide New England the opportunity to develop the deep supply chain needed to service the full offshore wind industry along the Eastern seaboard. It also likely serves as our region’s strongest opportunity for large scale new energy to meet our growing population and demand for energy. However, in order to capture the maximum benefits of the supply chain opportunity, it is imperative that BOEM send the right signals to the market that the US is serious about moving forward with offshore wind and project permitting will be conducted fairly and within a reasonable timeframe. Without this certainty and predictability, it will be difficult to encourage the business community to invest in offshore wind to its full potential. Further delay or additional restrictions will not only harm this project but also impede the forecasted growth of the other proposed project to come and increase energy costs for ratepayers.  Furthermore, at a time when our economy has felt the impact of COVID-19 and the steep job losses associated with it, Vineyard Wind will put people back to work, something that cannot be overlooked and should be embraced to ensure an even more robust economic recovery.  We ask that you approve Vineyard Wind 1 so that our region and country can realize the economic benefits of this project and to deliver clean, competitively priced energy to our ratepayers. Sincerely, Wendy Northcross Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce Ryan Evans Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy To learn more about offshore wind or be connected to Vineyard Wind please email Jessica Bergman

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