B.I. electrical system transfers to Deepwater’s Block Island Wind Farm/Providence Business News

The switch over of power on Block Island RI is historic in so many ways.  First, the customers switch off of diesel generation.  Getting rid of diesel saves them significant costs and helps fix their rates going forward.  Block Island's willingness to change over allowed the first major offshore wind farm to be built in the US.

All great changes but none as exciting as ridding the island of an old, antiquated, costly system of electricity.  The emission reductions will be monumental.

Kudos to everyone involved in this massive and amazingly successful project.


 BLOCK ISLAND Power Co. line worker Jim Stockman closes the circuit breaker, re-energizing the substation. On Monday, the Block Island Power Co. shut down its diesel-generating plant to transfer the island’s electrical system to Deepwater Wind LLC’s Block Island Wind Farm and National Grid’s Sea2Shore submarine cable. / COURTESY BLOCK ISLAND POWER CO.

 BLOCK ISLAND – In the pre-dawn hours on Monday, Block Island went dark – on purpose. The Block Island Power Co. shut down its diesel-generating plant to transfer the island’s electrical system to Deepwater Wind LLC’s 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm and National Grid’s Sea2Shore submarine cable. The cable delivers the output from the wind…