Mayflower Wind: Falmouth Access Agreement Denied

The Falmouth Select Board at the December 19, 2022 meeting denied the approval of a new access agreement to allow Mayflower Wind to conduct certain investigations and studies at Worcester Park, Central Park, and the “Kite Park” located at Grand Ave.

Overwhelmingly residents at the meeting spoke out against allowing any further work to go on at these locations.

Mayflower had two years ago proposed high-voltage onshore alternating current cables and a massive electric substation until a Select Board meeting on June 8th, 2022. Residents spoke out against the project and questions from that meeting were never answered.

On October 17, 2022, Mayflower Wind sent the Town of Falmouth a new project showing two 220,000 high voltage direct current cables running in parallel through Kite Park. It was not disclosed how many cable ducts for future cables would be included.

Brought up at the meeting last night was why were Massachusetts electric ratepayers going to have to pay to upgrade the Cape Cod electric grid when the wind companies could run their own ocean submarine cables to the final destination of the power. It appears by running the ocean wind power cables to the closest spot near the grid in Falmouth saves the wind companies the expense of very expensive submarine cables.

The brand new onshore wind proposals require high voltage direct current buried cables under Falmouth townland in residential neighborhoods, parks, and playgrounds. The land was donated to the town for the enjoyment of the residents. In simple terms, the number of megawatts could exceed three times that of the output of the old nuclear Pilgrim Power Plant a few feet under ballfields, and parks through residential neighborhoods.

Brought up was the comment period at the Massachusetts Energy Facility Siting Board had been paused by Mayflower wind and Mayflower Wind asked for more time at a Show Cause Hearing at the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board. No electric power land routes have been established for the project that started two years ago.

Also brought up were the electric fields of the cables. There do not appear to be any health studies of multiple buried high-voltage parallel direct current cables in the United States.

The wind company has also asked the State of Massachusetts to bypass safety and health wind turbine zoning laws enacted by Falmouth Town Meeting over the last ten years. At the recent meeting, the wind spokesperson said they have no intention of removing the request to bypass local zoning regulations and will be answering questions from the June 8th meeting soon.

One Select Board Member asked why the wind company did not follow an ocean submarine cable layout introduced by the Boston Brattle Group two years ago. One example was to run a submarine cable to the old Pilgrim Nuclear Plant where the power could be distributed North.

Note # The two town-owned Falmouth wind turbines shut down by the courts were removed several months ago.