OMG I am giddy.

CALL A WIND WAAHMBULANCE

We got ourselves a coder here!

New York rejects Orsted, Equinor, BP requests to charge more for offshore wind

New York regulators on Thursday denied requests by European energy firms Orsted (ORSTED.CO), Equinor (EQNR.OL), BP (BP.L) and other renewable developers to charge customers billions of dollars more under future power sale contracts.

The state denial could force some developers whose contracts may not cover project costs to scrap plans to sell power to customers in New York, cancel or delay projects, as happened with a couple of offshore wind projects in Massachusetts. Developers were looking to renegotiate contracts on four offshore wind and 86 land-based renewable projects.

Construction of renewable projects is key to the plans of U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration and several states, including New York, to transition away from fossil fuels for energy and reduce carbon emissions.

“Sunrise Wind’s viability and therefore ability to be constructed are extremely challenged without this adjustment,” Danish energy company Orsted CEO Americas David Hardy told Reuters in an email.

“Without this adjustment” as if it was merely a system tweak or something no one would even notice. The numbers in the actual increases the companies were asking for were something more than “adjustments.”

…New York Public Service Commission (PSC) denied petitions by the state’s two offshore wind developers, joint ventures (JVs) of Equinor-BP and Orsted-Eversource, for increases to offtake contracts as high as 55%, which one PSC member reportedly described as “breathtaking”.

…According to the petition, the Equinor-BP JV was calling for “a 54% increase on average across its portfolio”, which includes the 2.1GW Empire Wind 1 & 2 and 1.2GW Beacon Wind arrays.

The JV was seeking different rates across its three projects, with Beacon the highest at 55%. This would raise its rate from $118 per MWh to $190.82/MWh – the most among all projects.

Orsted-Eversource partnership requested a smaller hike of 27% increase for its 920MW Sunrise Wind farm, to $139.99/MWh.

PSC said the requests would rocket monthly power bills by nearly 7% for residential customers and over 10% for commercial and industrial users and “were not in the best interest of the State’s ratepayers”.

‘Viability extremely challenged‘
New York average retail power prices are around $24/MWh, according to the US Energy Information Agency.

Well, HELLO. I’d have to say going from an average of paying $24/MWh to upwards of $190/MWHr is one helluva an “adjustment,” no? I mean, I’m no economics major – I only play one here at HotAir – but I can do that math, and it’s eyewatering.

The wind giants are…

They’re making sure to repeat their talking points to everyone who will listen.

…“Sunrise Wind’s viability and therefore ability to be constructed are extremely challenged without this adjustment,” Hardy added.

Green and renewable lobbying groups immediately proceeded to screech for a do-over.

With Avengrid exiting the New England deals at the beginning of the month, the sudden return to rate sanity of the NYSPSC is dogpiling onto the financial insolvency of the Green schemers. Without massive government subsidies and skyrocketing rate hikes, they cannot sustain themselves…EH-VAH. If they are so fragile an industry that they can’t survive being buffeted by a few economic winds of change in either direction, why should consumers and taxpayers be beggared supporting them?

It’s looking more & more like “sustainable” green energy is entirely financially “unsustainable”:

NY unanimously rejects requests from offshore wind developers Equinor, Orsted, etc. for higher rates that would add up to $12B in costs

“…regulators refused to entertain requests… https://t.co/ZmPgoOiWff pic.twitter.com/8Sevrshi8R

— Prodigal (@ProdigalThe3rd) October 12, 2023

Ørsted, one of my favorite villains as you all know well, had an even rougher day when the news broke.

Shares in Orsted fell the most in more than a month after New York regulators ruled against a cost adjustment for offshore wind farms prompting fears about a further write down for one of the company’s US projects. The regulators ruled unanimously that developers must abide by… pic.twitter.com/vvMmU9XKcH

— Net Zero Watch (@NetZeroWatch) October 13, 2023

It was downright fugly. It’s so bad, Bloomberg News isn’t even bothering to put the Scandinavian “Ø” in front of their name.

Orsted Slumps as US Wind Cost Ruling Stokes Writedown Fear

▪ Shares drop to six-year low after New York denies adjustment
▪ Orsted faces decision on whether to walk away from US projects

It had to hurt, although some analysts remain semi-bullish. Maybe because of Biden’s magic subsidy checkbook, who knows.

Shares of Orsted (CSE:ORSTED), a leading offshore wind developer, took a significant hit this Friday following the New York State Public Service Commission’s decision to deny offshore wind developers the ability to raise electricity prices. The decision, which also affects companies such as BP (NYSE:BP) and Equinor, has imposed financial strain on several offshore wind projects.

…Adding to Orsted’s troubles, the company recently flagged potential impairments of up to $2.26 billion linked to three wind projects off the U.S. east coast. These impairments are due to supply delays and an absence of tax credits, further compounding the company’s financial challenges.

InvestingPro data shows the company experienced a 42.76% decrease in the 3-month price total return, and the price is currently at 52.7% of its 52-week high. Despite this, Orsted remains a prominent player in the Electric Utilities industry, as noted by InvestingPro Tips.

They’ve lost half their market price in the past year. What happens if they have to write these projects off?

Whales weep not for them.

Well done, New York.