Falmouth Onshore Wind Cables Set To Spark Lawsuits

In accordance with § C3-1 of the Town of Falmouth Town Code, the Select Board according to the Town Charter shall exercise control over town affairs by setting policies to be carried out by the Town Manager and other officers, boards, and commissions appointed by the Board.

The Falmouth Select Board voted on December 19, 2022, to deny an offshore wind company access to town property to study landfall sites for electric cables connecting its proposed offshore wind farm to the electrical grid. The Select Board had previously allowed the wind company after approvals from the Conservation Commission a one-year test period.

The Purpose of the Falmouth Conservation Commission is to promote and develop natural resources, protect watershed resources, and preserve natural esthetic areas within the town.

Several of the offshore cable landing sites involve land zoned as residential and land were given to the town with the caveat of recreational purposes only. The electric cables are an industrial and or commercial project.

There are no health studies in the United States for buried high voltage direct current cables in the United States through residential neighborhoods.

The offshore wind company has asked the state to bypass the town wind turbine bylaw 240-166 which includes electric transmission lines. The Falmouth bylaws are approved by Town Meeting and the Massachusetts Attorney General meant for safety and health.

According to records at the Massachusetts Energy Facility Siting Board the Town of Falmouth is preparing to intervene as a party in the state hearings postponed last year.

Falmouth April 2023 Town Meeting will be asked by several residents through a petition to reverse the December 19, 2022, Select Board vote last month that denied an offshore wind company access to town property.

Falmouth was a pioneer in placing two town-owned megawatt wind turbines within several hundred yards of residential property. The result was up to eleven lawsuits and the removal of the turbines in 2023.

Falmouth is now going to be a pioneer in placing high voltage direct current offshore wind cables through residential neighborhoods some of which are environmental justice locations with a six-acre electric substation.

On June 8, 2022, Select Board Meeting at the Lawrence School was followed by written comments from residents overwhelmingly against the cables.

There are alternatives to Falmouth which would cost the offshore wind company more to use ocean submarine cables to bypass the town. The Falmouth route is a shortcut to the electric grid. Not a so-called climate emergency.

Falmouth is a residential vacation destination.