Suffolk County and Town of Brookhaven officials signed an agreement with the developers of New York's second offshore wind farm for certain investments made to the nearby community.
The host community agreement with Ørsted and Eversource provides a $700 million investment plan for powering Long Island with renewable energy and updating the regional electric grid.
The Sunrise Wind project will create an offshore wind farm about 30 miles east of Montauk Point, providing over 600,000 New York homes to help the state reach its clean energy goal by 2040.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone was joined by county legislators, Brookhaven Town officials, state environmental leadership and climate activists on a chilly first day of spring at Smith Point Beach.
“We’ve talked for a long time about Suffolk County and Long Island, the fact that this will be the epicenter of the offshore wind industry for our nation,” Bellone said.
“Climate change and rising sea level will not end us,” Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine said. “Today, we stake out a new direction for Long Island and for our country. I could not be more pleased.”
Brookhaven will receive the lion's share of the "host community benefits,” including over $5 million annually, beginning in 2025 — totaling over $168 million over 25 years.
The money is in exchange for a 124-mile power transmission cable that will be buried under the beach at Smith Point County Park, then routing 18 miles under publicly owned roads and rights-of-way to the existing grid in Holbrook.
The Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency has already approved a payment-in-lieu of taxes agreement for the project.
Additionally, 2,200 permanent jobs for the manufacturing and operations of the wind farm are expected. “We want to make sure that we create the opportunity for people to live, work, play and stay here,” said Nassau-Suffolk Building Trades Council President Matty Aracich. “And these are the programs and opportunities that will go on for decades.”
