Posted on July 6, 2026
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey recently celebrated the completion of Vineyard Wind, the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm that she pledged would lower electricity rates and remove tons of carbon emissions from the atmosphere.
The project was completed off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard despite lawsuits from residents and environmentalists, as well as the Trump administration’s aggressive anti-wind policies.
Still, Vineyard Wind’s future is murky. Its turbines produce less than half the energy promised. The project’s developer is embroiled in a bitter legal battle that company executives say threatens to turn Vineyard Wind’s 62 turbines into a “dormant wind farm graveyard.”
Officials in the Democratic-led state are enthusiastic about the project’s future. Workers completed the installation of Vineyard Wind’s final three turbine blades on March 13. Soon afterward, state officials locked in a 20-year purchase agreement that sets the average rate of electricity the turbines produce at $69.50 per megawatt-hour, a cost that could beat the state’s natural gas pricing during some of the coldest winter weeks.
When fully operational, Vineyard Wind will have the capacity to provide 806 megawatts of electricity, enough to power up to 400,000 homes, Massachusetts officials said.
“Having energy independence instead of being beholden to foreign interests and the oil companies and utility executives who are lining their pockets is the way we’ve got to go in Massachusetts,” Ms. Healey said at a June 24 event in New Bedford celebrating the completion of the project.
Vineyard Wind’s construction is finished, but the project is a long way from generating the electricity promised or delivering the output needed to keep the wind farm financially viable.
