Amid opposition, developer nixes bid to build wind farms off the South Fork

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo may have big plans for offshore wind power as part of the Empire State’s climate change action plan, but Bill White, managing director of the developer East Wind LLC, said his company will withdraw its plan to built a wind farm 20 miles off the South Fork, Newsday reported. The developer, a subsidiary of Germany-based EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, instead plans to build farther west and urge federal authorities to bar turbine construction from the East End’s waters. East Wind bowed out of its bid for offshore wind power in the Hamptons due to concerns about how wind farms might impact the local fishing industry. The federal government has been finalizing proposed lease sites for such farms despite local and state opposition them. East Wind officials have their eye on six sites off Long Island where they hope to build. One is directly off East Hampton and Southampton. The others stretched from Patchogue to Long Beach. Meanwhile, a plan touted by Cuomo on Thursday could bring offshore wind turbines to an area 30 nautical miles southeast of Montauk, although it remains unclear where a cable that connects to the wind farm will come ashore. [Newsday]