For the last six years, five yellow-based turbines lined up in shallow water off the coast of Rhode Island with just 30 MW in total power capacity have been the visual icon of U.S. offshore wind energy.
The Block Island Wind Farm was completed in late 2016 to link the 110-sq-mile island to the state power grid for the first time via one 25-mile underwater cable that no one paid much attention to—other than 1,000 full-time residents and thousands more summer visitors who gained a clean and more price-stable energy alternative to a polluting and expensive diesel system, and fast internet service thrown in for a bonus.