The Connecticut Port Authority launched a public-private partnership tied to development of a major offshore wind-to-energy project without proper authority to do so, the State Contracting Standards Board concluded Friday.
The watchdog agency also concluded that the $523,000 “success” fee the Connecticut Port Authority paid to a consulting firm closely tied to a former member is eerily similar to the “finder’s fees” scandal that sent a former state treasurer to prison in 2001.
The contracting board does not have authority to block the wind farm project and chiefly is limited to making recommendations to Lamont and the General Assembly.