Deepwater Wind, the developer planning two offshore wind farms in Rhode Island, has moved its corporate headquarters here from New Jersey.
The company announced Monday that it is now based out of what was a satellite office at 56 Exchange Terrace in Providence. The office, which opened in April 2009 with only one employee based there full-time, has been expanded to accommodate staff from Hoboken, N.J., and several new hires, including, most recently, a lawyer who once served as chief of staff to Governor Carcieri.
Jeffrey Grybowski, who was chief of staff to Carcieri from 2003 to 2007, has been named Deepwater’s chief administrative officer and senior vice president for strategy and external affairs, according to the Monday announcement. After leaving state government, Grybowski became a partner at the law firm Hinckley, Allen & Snyder, where, starting in May 2008, Deepwater was one of his clients.
In his new job, he will coordinate Deepwater’s development efforts in the Northeast and will lead the company’s public-policy strategies.
Grybowski will work in the Providence office as part of a nine-member team that includes chief executive William M. Moore; chief development officer Paul Rich; Chris van Beek, managing director and chief of technology, projects and operations; and Aileen Kenney, director of permitting.
“The talent we have added to our development team enhances our ability to build the nation’s first offshore wind farms serving our core markets, including Rhode Island,
Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey,” Moore said in a statement. “The establishment of our corporate headquarters in Providence also furthers our commitment to establishing an East Coast wind-energy hub.”
The move comes as Deepwater steps up its efforts to develop an 8-turbine wind farm in state waters off Block Island that would serve as a test project before the company goes forward with a 100-turbine proposal in federal waters further off the Rhode Island coast.
The Block Island project, which would be the company’s first, cleared a major hurdle last month when the state Public Utilities Commission approved a long-term agreement for the sale of the power it generates to National Grid, Rhode Island’s main utility.
The approval, however, came in controversial fashion after the General Assembly approved a special law designed for Deepwater’s benefit. Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, the Conservation Law Foundation and two private manufacturers have appealed the PUC decision to the state Supreme Court, which has yet to schedule a hearing for the case.
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Source: dwwind, September 15, 2010