Projo Biz Blog

By Timothy C. Barmann
Journal Staff writer

The developer selected by Governor Carcieri to build a $1.5 billion wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island is represented by a local attorney who served as Carceri's chief of staff for four years.

The attorney, Jeffrey Grybowski, is a partner with Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP and was hired by Deepwater Wind in May, said Chris Brown, chief executive officer of Deepwater.

He served as Carcieri's chief of staff between 2003 and 2007.

"He's an attorney for the firm," Brown said. "We used his understanding the law and the background of things like the [Coastal Resources Management Council], the permitting process -- really the legal aspects of the Rhode Island project."

"You really need a solid legal team," he added. "There's about 100 permits [needed] on the environmental side."

Brown, as well as a spokeswoman for Carcieri insisted that Grybowski's ties to the governor played no role in Deepwater's selection as the winning bidder.

"The evaluation process was handled completely by the evaluation team," said Amy Kempe, the spokeswoman. The team consisted of four state officials and a dean at the University of Rhode Island.

They were assisted by two outside consultants who were brought in for their expertise in engineering and energy, said Andrew Dzykewicz, the governor's chief energy adviser.

Kempe said the governor was informed that Grybowski was working with Deepwater at the time the team made its recommendation that Deepwater should get the contract.
"It was all above board, I can assure you of that," she said.

"What it comes down to," Dzykewicz said, "these guys clearly had the best proposal. Just because we have a guy that we know as part of the team doesn't mean we should disqualify them."

Read a previous story.

 Tags  Allen & Snyder LLP Andrew Dzykewicz Carcieri Chris Brown Deepwater Wind Hinckley

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