Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham has sent yet another letter to the Biden-Harris administration in opposition to a federal proposal to lease nearly 150,000 offshore acres to an energy company with no experience in wind projects.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management stands at the helm of the proposal.
According to Buckingham’s letter, addressed to BOEM Lease Sale Coordinator Renee Bigham, the proposal aims to lease 142,528 acres off the coast of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico to a company called Hecate Energy Gulf Wind LLC.
Yet, Hecate allegedly has zero experience with the construction of offshore wind farms. Two proposed upland wind projects currently in development constitute the organization’s entire experience in the field.
“As the steward of Texas state-owned submerged lands extending 10.3 miles to the boundary of federal waters, I have serious reservations about leasing vast swaths of the Gulf to a company that has yet to operate a single functional wind turbine to date,” wrote Buckingham.
The commissioner’s letter highlighted several other concerns with the federal government’s proposal. Chiefly, offshore wind projects have a history of being financially unworkable. Further, it poses significant risks to many sea life species like the already-endangered Rice’s whale. Species of migrating birds would also be at risk.
Buckingham asserted that moving forward with the project would impact and displace local fishing communities. Hurricane paths in the Gulf would also pose another risk as they have the potential to damage wind turbines.
Buckingham first raised these issues in a letter she sent to the Biden administration in late April, where she first opposed the acreage sale and described it as “reckless.” In her Monday follow-up letter, she noted that very little has been done to address these concerns.
Recounting the damage to a wind turbine at the Vineyard Wind farm last month, the commissioner wrote, “A small portion of a single blade resulted in more than six truckloads of debris discharged into coastal waters.” As a result, beach closures along Nantucket Island occurred.
While this event occurred in reportedly calm weather, the proposal aims to construct the offshore wind farm directly in the path taken by Hurricane Beryl.
“As Texas Land Commissioner, I am charged with determining whether granting an easement to access state-owned submerged land for transmission lines to shore is in the best interest of Texas,” said Buckingham. “I continue to see significant economic, practical, and environmental concerns regarding a wind farm in the Gulf of Mexico.”
