BOSTON - Mass. Governor Charlie Baker says he's working with Federal regulators to insure that construction of Vineyard Wind's 800-megawatt project off Martha's Vineyard will start in 2019.

Vineyard Wind hopes to start construction in the next few months, but project officials say it's at risk unless the project receives a favorable review from a key federal agency by the end of August.

On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Charlie Baker said about the Vineyard Wind project that his administration would work "really hard to see if we can help them get the thing back on track."

"We're obviously working with them and with the folks in Washington to clarify what the issues are," Baker told reporters after an affordable housing event. "Our goal is going to be to see if we can help them get this thing over the goal line so they don't lose the time-frame it was originally scheduled to be built on."

Vineyard Wind had been planning to financially close on its project and begin on-shore construction work this year, put the first turbine into the seabed in 2021 and have the 84-turbine wind farm operational in 2022.

Baker had said earlier in the week that federal regulators offered new "guidance" about the project. The governor stressed that he hopes to see progress made soon given the scope of the proposal and its importance as officials push for greater investment in renewable energy.

"I think all of us are anxious to see the offshore wind industry develop off the coast of the U.S.," he said. "We have projects literally lining up all the way down the East Coast, and they represent not only important environmental projects, but many of them are priced at a point that makes them affordable."

Information from State House News Service

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