A wind project promised Mass. cheap power. Then came inflation

There’s more drama in the ongoing saga with Massachusetts’ largest approved offshore wind project, Commonwealth Wind.

Months after its developer, Avangrid, signed power contracts with three major utilities, the company is trying to get the state’s Department of Public Utilities to allow it to renegotiate those agreements. The company says supply constraints and rising interest rates require that they charge more for their wind power if the project has a chance of being viable.

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But, by all accounts, the country — and Massachusetts — is moving forward with offshore wind, even as some of the first projects face challenges.

“We’re not seeing offshore wind failing. We’re seeing some economic turmoil and corporations trying to address the uncertainty by finding additional value for themselves,” says Melissa Birchard, director of the Acadia Center’s Clean Energy & Grid Transition program.

“Should they be allowed to get that value from renegotiating? That’s a question that’s on the table right now, but it certainly doesn’t speak to the viability of this entire industry.”

Read the full article in WBUR News here.