Massachusetts dismisses PPA review suspension sought by Commonwealth Wind

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has denied motions by Avangrid Inc (NYSE:AGR) to temporarily suspend the review of the power purchase agreements (PPAs) for its 1,232-MW Commonwealth Wind project.

The utility regulator issued an order last week, saying that project vehicle Commonwealth Wind "is a sophisticated market participant well capable of factoring economic contingencies into its contract prices, negotiating contract terms to protect its interests in the event of unforeseen circumstances, and exercising its options under the existing power purchase agreements (PPAs).”

The developer was then granted a two-business-day extension to comply with the ruling and decide whether to move forward with its contractual obligations under the PPAs or file a request to dismiss the proceedings.

Avangrid requested the suspension of the PPA review period in October to assess the impact of global commodity price increases, supply chain constraints and the global economic challenges on the power off-take deals. The developer warned that the project would no longer be viable without amendments to the PPAs. A few days later, it announced that the commissioning of the Commonwealth Wind park has been pushed back by a year, to 2028.

Commonwealth Wind was selected as part of Massachusetts’ third offshore wind competitive procurement process in December 2021. It has contracts in place with utilities Eversource Energy, National Grid and Unitil Corp.

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