Residents have ‘unanswered questions’ about offshore wind farm

<p>While environmentalists are applauding the offshore wind farm proposed for the waters 36 miles off the coast of Montauk, some residents say there are too many unanswered questions.&nbsp;</p>

News 12 Staff

May 17, 2018, 10:05 AM

Updated 2,178 days ago

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While environmentalists are applauding the offshore wind farm proposed for the waters 36 miles off the coast of Montauk, some residents say there are too many unanswered questions. 
The developer Deepwater Wind says the cost to build the 15 turbine farm comes with a $740 million pricetag. Resident Si Kinsella says the company is not being transparent about how much it's going to cost customers.
"The ratepayers deserve to know how much they are going to have to pay for the wind turbines," he told News 12
Deepwater Wind officials say LIPA and PSEG have already worked the numbers and that it will cost ratepayers a little over $1 more per month. 
"LIPA has said that our wind farm's cost is about the same as its other renewable energy projects, which are about 16 cents per [kilowatt]," Deepwater Wind said in a statement. 
The town of East Hampton will have to grant the company an easement to run a power supply cable from the ocean, under a beach in Wainscott, and then under several town roads to a PSEG substation in the village of East Hampton.
East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc says he is in favor of the project. 
"It protects our environment. It protects our health. We have some of the most beautiful area still intact in all of Long Island and we intend to keep it that way," said Van Scoyoc. 
The head of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association told News 12 that the fishing industry needs a monitoring and mitigation plan in place before the company is allowed access to the ocean. 


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