the company reached with utilities and reopen a new round of bidding, saying that its Commonwealth Wind project, the largest offshore wind farm in the state's pipeline,"cannot be financed and built" under existing contracts.
"We have to get to a point where the contract allows the project to go to financing, and under the current structure, it just isn't there," Avangrid Senior Vice President for State Government Affairs Kim Harriman told the News Service."We have to be able to finance it, and frankly, we can't do that with the current contract.
Gov. Charlie Baker said in November that his team had"no interest in reopening anything" and viewed debate about the contracts as"a discussion to take place between them and the utilities." After state regulators set a hard deadline for Avangrid to commit to its project or back away from the table, the company said it"believes there is a path forward" but would need to find a solution to"unprecedented economic challenges."
Harriman said she is optimistic the project's timeline, which eyes a start to operations by 2028, would not be upended if Avangrid secures new terms in a bid.