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Nantucket demands activation of ADLS and proposes $25,000-per-turbine daily penalty until lights are reduced
Summary
Town officials said the aircraft detection lighting system (ADLS) required by the community benefit agreement remains inactive and proposed $25,000 per turbine per day in compensation until ADLS is functioning.
Nantucket officials on July 29 said the aircraft detection lighting system (ADLS) that Vineyard Wind agreed to install has not been activated and that the island’s night sky has been “polluted” with dozens of constantly blinking red turbine lights for more than a year.
“Part of the experience [on Nantucket] is being able to look out at a pristine dark ocean and a well lit by stars night sky,” said Greg Werkheiser, special counsel for the town, describing the ADLS provision and the town’s objections. Werkheiser said Nantucket’s negotiating push helped make ADLS a standard requirement in federal offshore wind bid processes.
Town officials described the ADLS as a system that allows turbines’ obstruction lights — which the town said are required by the Federal Communications Commission — to remain dimmed except when the system detects aircraft or ships, limiting lighting to rare activations. At the press conference, officials said the CBA anticipated reducing 24/7 lighting “down to no more than 4 total hours” (as described by town counsel) when ADLS is functioning.
Nantucket’s list of demands includes: Vineyard Wind and its partners or subcontractors appear at a public Select Board meeting to explain the history of ADLS activation and future plans; and that Vineyard Wind compensate the town approximately $25,000 per turbine for each day ADLS is not active. The town said Vineyard Wind has missed multiple activation targets and attributed delays to “technical issues” and partners, describing company explanations as “convoluted, inconsistent, and unsatisfactory.”
Brooke Moore, the select board member who chaired the board during the blade failure response, said the town expects Vineyard Wind to provide timely, honest answers and to allow the board to pass information to the public. Officials said the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement shutdown order (referenced in public materials) did not preclude the company from performing work to activate ADLS.
Town officials said more details and documentation about the ADLS schedule, technical issues and the proposed penalty calculation will be provided with the press release and background brief distributed to media immediately after the press conference.
