It was an afternoon of high praise for leaders of the Connecticut Port Authority as U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm toured the work to make State Pier, Port of New London, a state-of-the-art facility and declared this should be “an example for the country.”

Local, state and federal officials, and labor leaders pose for photos with U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

“We want to replicate this,” Granholm said after meeting with workers transforming the outdated facility into an advanced, heavy-lift capable terminal to accommodate massive wind turbines for the offshore wind industry and a broader range of cargo.

The project is scheduled for completion by March 2023. It will be the culmination of the CPA’s vision in 2018 when it sought private-sector partners to help support the necessary improvements that would lead to a “thriving maritime economy driving steady economic growth and creating new jobs across Connecticut,” as stated in the CPA’s vison statement for all three ports. Even more, it will finally bring this unique, but long-underutilized state asset, up to state-of-the-art standards as a marine terminal able to handle a wide variety of cargo.

Granholm was accompanied by the state’s Congressional Delegation, Gov. Ned Lamont, Gateway Terminal President Jim Dillman, Keith Brothers, President of Connecticut Building Trades, New London Mayor Michael Passero, and other state and regional stakeholders.

Granholm’s remarks received considerable media attention, as she acknowledged the Port of New London’s lead position in the race to accommodate the explosion of offshore wind development necessary to meet the Biden Administration’s offshore wind power energy goals.

“I was asked to come here by the White House because y’all have been doing amazing things in Connecticut,” Granholm said, noting the facility is contributing to President Biden’s twin goals of 100% clean electricity by 2035, and gaining energy independence from a global supply chain.

“This is why this is such an amazing example of that getting done. The reason why the President was fascinated by what you are doing is because we want to replicate this. And that’s why it is so great to be here to see you as an example for the country,” Granholm said.

CPA Board Chairman David Kooris acknowledged the facility’s role in the development of sustainable, offshore wind power, but focused on what a state-of-the-art State Pier will mean in terms of jobs and economic development for the region and state.

“This is a great example of what it takes to position this country for the green sector and the blue sector economies,” Kooris said. “It is not just about the energy generation, but it’s about the pipeline of economic activity and the resultant economic development and the infrastructure that goes in to underpin that.”

The infrastructure, Kooris said, “will extend into dozens and dozens of communities within this state. Without this infrastructure, the low carbon energy that Commissioner Dykes and the federal administration are working so hard toward would not be achievable.”

Kooris noted that the CPA is a small agency and thanked the federal, state, and local partners, as well as the Orsted and Eversource offshore wind joint venture, for providing the private-sector funds that are making the vision of the CPA Strategic Plan a reality.

“We appreciate all of you working alongside of us. We’re a lean, mean, small team,” Kooris said. “We couldn’t have done it without you, but we’re really happy to deliver this project less than a year from now, and we can’t wait to see turbines here and ships bringing them out to the offshore farm.”