Posted on December 15, 2025
After months of pressure from local leaders, Nantucket has won new guarantees from Vineyard Wind, securing an agreement that sets clearer rules for communication, public transparency, and emergency response as the offshore wind project progresses toward full operations.
The agreement was formally announced on Dec. 11.
Town leaders first raised the issue publicly in July, when they called for more consistent and transparent information about the project’s daily activities and a more reliable process for handling emergencies at sea. They said the town had struggled to get quick, detailed answers, and they wanted a system that let both officials and residents track what the project was doing.
Select Board member Brooke Mohr, who led the island delegation in the talks, said the push centered on protecting the island’s natural and economic landscape.
Many issues arose in the aftermath of the catastrophic failure of a blade on turbine AW-38 in July 2024, which sent tons of debris crashing into the ocean and then washing up on Nantucket’s south shore and elsewhere throughout the region. Others are related to the light pollution from the turbine field.
“Transparency and predictability are essential to protect our world-renowned coastline, fisheries, night skies, and heritage tourism economy,” she said.
Nantucket is listed as a national historic landmark.
The company is constructing its 62-turbine, 800- megawatt Vineyard Wind 1 project — a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables LLC and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners — in waters starting about 15 miles southwest of Nantucket. The company earlier this month reported the project is progressing and has a current operational capacity of more than 400 megawatts.
Vineyard Wind’s new pact with Nantucket
Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moeller took part in the negotiations with town leaders. The talks led to an agreement that outlines 14 specific steps the company must now follow.
The new pact requires Vineyard Wind to alert eight town officials within three hours whenever an incident triggers an emergency response, including blade failures. The company must send preliminary and final emergency reports within firm deadlines and can only remove sensitive business information from shared reports when the Freedom of Information Act allows it.
The town will now sit inside the company’s emergency response procedures — Nantucket will send a representative to observe the annual tabletop emergency drills Vineyard Wind runs with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. A town representative will also join the incident management team during emergencies and the communications coordination team if Vineyard Wind activates one.
The agreement also gives the island community more access to information about the project’s activities. According to the document, Vineyard Wind will release a summary of its new Debris/Infrastructure Failure Incident Response Plan for public feedback and treat it as a document that stays open to updates.
The company must also provide monthly written updates on construction and operations and track any periods when its aircraft detection lighting system fails. If the lighting exceeds the projections the company originally submitted to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the company must explain why and describe possible solutions.
Vineyard Wind will additionally assign a liaison with direct access to company decision makers. This person must answer questions from the town – and from residents who submit questions through the town — within seven days. When a question requires technical research, according to the agreement, the company must confirm it received the inquiry and give a specific deadline for the full response.
The town agreed to several parallel steps. Nantucket will help share emergency information with the public, provide support when possible, assign its own liaison, and answer the company’s questions within seven days. Island leaders will pass along public questions about the project, share the previous month’s communications, and review any concerns Vineyard Wind raises about accuracy.
Both sides agreed to meet at the leadership level if either believes the other broke the agreement. They will enter mediation if they cannot resolve the issue, and the town keeps the option to sue for damages.
Greg Werkheiser, who advises Nantucket on offshore wind issues through Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC, said the agreement focuses on practical needs.
“This agreement is not symbolic — it is operational,” he said. “These are real-world measures that will meaningfully improve the community’s ability to protect the island.”
Vineyard Wind spokesperson Craig Gilvarg said the company views the result as a positive step.
“Vineyard Wind 1 is pleased to enter into this memorandum of understanding with the town of Nantucket, which is the product of respectful and cooperative discussions between the parties over recent months,” he said.
The protocols outlined in the agreement, he said, “will promote regular and transparent communication between Vineyard Wind and the town of Nantucket, and we look forward to a long-term positive relationship with the island.” Town officials expect the first monthly update under the new rules later this month.
