The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees the development of energy resources in U.S. waters, previously scheduled a series of public meetings to collect comments on the potential environmental impacts of developer Vineyard Wind’s project.
The first meeting was planned for tonight in New Bedford and the second was scheduled for tomorrow in Narragansett.
However, due to the government shutdown, the meetings have been postponed until further notice.
If the government shutdown continues into the morning of Jan. 14, meetings scheduled next week in Hyannis, Nantucket and Vineyard Haven will also be rescheduled.
Vineyard Wind’s project is expected to have more than 80 turbines.
Commercial fishermen have raised concerns about the spacing between the turbines, which they say could impact their ability to fish in the area, and about spinning turbines interfering with their radar navigation.