Sen. Julian Cyr, who represents Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, told the News Service Monday that he’s been in communication with federal agents and local officials. He said it’s no coincidence that the turbine that was struck was the one that was damaged last July.

“It makes sense that it was the same turbine that was damaged in July 2024, because it is not operational, and does not have the same grounding and lightning strike protection systems designed to protect these turbines from lightning strikes,” said Cyr (D-Provincetown).

The blade that was damaged last summer has not yet been fully removed, Cyr said, and is scheduled for removal in May. High seas in the winter and speed restrictions prevent crews from finishing the work during the colder months, he said.

Vineyard Wind began delivering energy from five of its planned 63 wind turbines last year. The wind farm is seen as a critical part of the state’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions, and its development comes as other planned offshore power installations have been put on pause by the Trump administration.

Damage from lightning strikes is fairly common for offshore wind turbines. Norway-based insurance company DNV wrote in a recent report that “lighting damage is the single largest cause of unplanned downtime in wind turbines and the most common insurance claim filed by wind farm owners.”

Questions sent to Vineyard Wind about the lightning protection technology and further damage to the turbine were returned with a general statement sent to other media organizations.

That statement indicates that the new lightning-related damage was contained only to the already-damaged blade “and based on current information there is no impact to the nacelle or turbine structure.”

“As part of a continuous effort to manage the damaged GE Vernova blade on turbine AW-38, a rigorous action plan has been put into place which includes debris recovery resources, recurrent flyovers to observe the turbine, and ultimately GE Vernova’s planned removal and replacement of the blade in May 2025,” Vineyard Wind said.

Vineyard Wind added that it “deployed both aerial and maritime resources and based on current observations, there is no indication of debris from this event.”

There was some delay between when the lightning strike occurred, and when Vineyard Wind publicly announced the incident, according to local media.

The Nantucket Current reported that as of 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nantucket Select Board Chair Brooke Mohr had not been informed about the incident, though she was soon after, and the company sent out a statement to the media around 5 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

“I’ve been in touch with the select board chair and the town manager, we just need to continue, we need Vineyard Wind to engage as a good neighbor to the island of Nantucket and Martha Vineyard,” Cyr said. “Thorough, timely communication is always appreciated regarding any incident related to the wind farm, certainly this summer’s incident and its aftermath was very challenging for islanders. And while it appears this lightning strike was much more narrow in scope, timely and thorough communication is what islanders expect and what we expect from any good neighbor.”

His comments were echoed by newly-sworn Rep. Thomas Moakley, who also represents the islands.

“Wether [sic] it’s a major incident like last summer or a minor one as this appears to be, it’s important that the communities of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard have all the information and resources they need on a continuous basis as the hosts for the Vineyard Wind project,” Moakley said in a statement.