Bill to free up land for wind farm cable stalls in special session

ALBANY – The fate of a Long Island offshore wind project hung in the balance Tuesday as labor unions and environmentalists scrambled to persuade the Assembly to approve a bill that would green light it.

With letters to officials and shoe leather methods, proponents were trying to build momentum to get the Assembly to act during a short special session at the State Capitol.

Opponents were trying to slow it down, saying too many questions remained about the wind turbines and the path of transmission cable that would make landfall in Long Beach and run to a substation in Island Park.

The intense lobbying occurred as the Assembly returned to Albany for atwo-day session to take up bills left in limbo when the regular legislative session adjourned 10 days prior.

The controversy centers on a proposed wind farm located about 20 miles offshore that would be built by Equinor, the Norwegian company behind the project.

As part of the regulatory process, the company needs the State Legislature to approve an energy bill that includes language that essentially would grant Long Beach authority to allow transmission cable to make landfall on the beach.  

The Democrat-led State Senate approved the bill on June 9, but the Assembly put it off temporarily amid concerns about support.

As of late Tuesday, the Assembly still hadn’t slated a vote on the bill but multiple sources said it could happen Wednesday.

The bill has faced opposition from state legislators who represent Long Beach, Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick (R-Malverne) and Assemb. Ari Brown (R-Cedarhurst), who, among other things, said Democrats were trying to take over a land-use issue in their home districts.

“There are so many questions left unanswered” about the project, Brown said Tuesday at the Capitol. He cited potential impacts on birds and marine life and the size of the power transfer station.

He also said the package of financial benefits for host communities was insufficient.

With the possibility of the bill dying, a coalition of unions, business groups and environmental organizations jumpstarted efforts to persuade the Assembly to pass the bill with a flurry of letters and messages sent Monday and Tuesday to leaders in the chamber.

Failure would jeopardize the state’s ability to meet its 2030 renewable energy goals, the green groups said, including Citizens Campaign for the Environment and the New York League of Conservation Voters.

The Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties and the New York State Laborers said the project would “produce benefits for both the environment and the state’s economy.”

The business-backed Long Island Association also urged support for the bill, saying it provided “substantial economic development opportunities.”

Brown noted Long Beach officials sent him a letter June 9 asking lawmakers to “suspend consideration” of the land-use bill – only to send him a new letter Monday, changing their view.

In the letter, four city council members, including President John Bendo, said they want to “withdraw our objections” to the legislation.

They said Equinor has been “dismal” in alleviating residents’ concerns so far. But they said the bill would give them authority over local land-use while not committing one way or another to allowing the transmission cable.

“We find it both regrettable and disappointing that what should have been a straightforward … request has been twisted into a broader political referendum on offshore wind and renewable energy,” the Bendo letter said. “We are simply requesting the state give the City of Long Beach providence over what happens to its own beaches.”

Brown contended Long Beach would lose leverage if the bill goes through.

“I don’t agree with Long Beach that this will allow them to continue the conversation” with Equinor about impacts and benefits, Brown said. “You will lose control.”

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy