PROVIDENCE — Two years after the request for proposals was issued, and more than a year after its bid to provide power was chosen, SouthCoast Wind still hasn’t signed a final contract to sell electricity to Rhode Island.

The offshore wind developer is proposing to build a 1,287-megawatt (MW) wind project that would supply at least 200 MW of electricity to Rhode Island, with the rest going to Massachusetts. SouthCoast Wind was the only offshore wind developer to be awarded Rhode Island’s portion of the multi-state RFP issued by Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut in 2023.

Rhode Island Energy, the state’s primary utility company, has been negotiating with SouthCoast Wind for much of this year, with the utility company agreeing to postpone the final deadline for contract talks several times.

After Rhode Island Energy postponed the deadline in July from the summer to Nov. 1, it also stipulated in its announcement that it may withdraw its conditional selection of SouthCoast Wind’s bid if the two parties couldn’t reach an agreement by the new autumn deadline.

But the Nov. 1 deadline has come and gone without the two parties signing off on the power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply Rhode Island with power from the proposed offshore wind project.

A spokesperson for Rhode Island Energy told ecoRI News the company was continuing to negotiate with SouthCoast Wind, and was unable to comment with more specifics on the talks.

When ecoRI News asked Nov. 3, two days after the latest deadline, Rhode Island Energy’s spokesperson said they were unable to comment further.

A representative from SouthCoast Wind didn’t return requests for comments.

Meanwhile, SouthCoast Wind continues to pick up the state approvals it needs for the Rhode Island portion of the project. On Nov. 4 the state Energy Facility Siting Board voted to approve SouthCoast Wind’s proposal to bury the export cables for the project under the Sakonnet River, underground in Portsmouth, and into Mount Hope Bay.

“It is possible SouthCoast Wind could abandon the project at any time in the next five years,” EFSB chair Ron Gerwatowski said at the meeting. “I think it’s important to have their license terminated if that happens.”

Gerwatowski said he was concerned that if the SouthCoast Wind project fell through, the license for export cables would be permanently unused, potentially blocking a future offshore wind project from using the same cable route. The approval from the EFSB is good for only five years, with an option for an extension if needed. SouthCoast Wind is also required to secure a PPA and receive all federal permits required for the project to operate.

SouthCoast Wind has had its share of problems. Reuters reported recently that a U.S. district judge ruled the Trump administration could reconsider the approval awarded to the project in the closing days of the Biden administration.

But the problems have gone beyond federal interference. Company leaders in 2023 chose to cancel its existing PPAs with Massachusetts utility companies, which incensed the EFSB, which voted to pause consideration of SouthCoast’s export cables. SouthCoast Wind cited increased costs due to supply chain issues stemming from the pandemic as the chief reasons it wanted to renegotiate the previously signed PPAs.

“We recognize there’s a new level of federal uncertainty surrounding the project, and it still has not executed its PPA,” Gerwatowski said. “But we have moved forward with our process out of fairness to the applicant who met all the conditions we imposed for the continuation of our proceedings.”

Uncertainty continues to cloud the future prospects of offshore wind in the United States. While the Block Island Wind Farm is operational, and Revolution Wind is on schedule to go operational late next year, many offshore wind projects on the Eastern seaboard face the slings and arrows of the federal government.

The Trump administration has made no secret of its open hostility to offshore wind projects since coming to power in January. Most recently, the administration issued a stop-work order in late August to the Revolution Wind project. The project remained dormant for a month, until Revolution Wind obtained a preliminary injunction after it sued the Trump administration over the order.