If you’re not alarmed about the following, you should be!
The head of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), which oversees offshore wind contracts and bidding, admitted that she did not know the project’s total cost for the construction of wind turbines off Suffolk County. https://paper.newsday.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?edid=ce1e7d25-0da0-4ffb-b636-dd00c629b228&pnum=6
You can’t make this stuff up.
When asked by a Newsday reporter how much the ballyhooed Sunrise Wind project will cost, she stated: “The total cost of the project, I defer to Ørsted.” Ørsted is the private company constructing the offshore wind turbines. When the spokesperson for that company was asked about the cost, she had the temerity to state: “That’s something that publicly we do not share.”
Are you kidding us?
The state entered into a contract with a private company to construct wind turbines that will be paid for by the taxpayers. The state says they don’t know how much it costs and the private company says that they will not disclose the figure.
Who the hell is in charge here?
And why aren’t our local officials outraged?
We call upon our state officials to get on top of this immediately. Senator Mario Mattera (R-Hauppauge) has been one of the few outspoken critics of the extremist green movement that is spending billions of dollars without adequate oversight. Perhaps the senator can call for hearings to get to the bottom of this. And while they’re at it, they can call for the resignation of NYSERDA’s chief executive, who apparently doesn’t know the cost of the project she is overseeing on behalf of ratepayers.
Let’s not forget that the state was hoodwinked by many of these companies who obtained the original bids with lowball figures, only to turn around later and say that they couldn’t complete the task without an increase to the bid.
Governor Kathy Hochul, with great fanfare, said no way and canceled the bids. But when no one was looking, she simply allowed for a new bid and accepted the higher amount. Big win for the private companies building these windmills. Big loss for ratepayers who have already seen their rates going through the roof.