Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has denied a proposal to extend the review of the Commonwealth Wind project’s power purchase agreements.
The suspension was proposed by the project’s developer, Avangrid, a subsidiary of Iberdrola, aiming to delay the review for a month.
According to the filing, the suspension was “needed to address the impact of current extraordinary global economic conditions on the PPAs”.
It warned that the project will be unviable under the current terms of the contract due to rising commodity prices, interest rates, and supply chain constraints.
The utilities involved in the contracts, Eversource, National Grid and Unitil, were seeking approval for the PPAs with Commonwealth Wind and Mayflower Wind from the DPU.
Mayflower, which is being developed by a joint venture between Shell and Ocean Winds, also made a filing with the DPU supporting Commonwealth’s petitions.
The three utilities had previously stated that they saw no reason to renegotiate the contracts, making the suspension unnecessary.
According to the Massachusetts DPU, Commonwealth Wind “is a sophisticated market participant well capable of factoring economic contingencies into its contract prices”.
The next move for the two wind projects, the DPU said, will be to decide to move forward under the current contract or file a request to dismiss the proceedings.