June 20: The most recent version of this tracker updates the policy table to include legislation from California that would expand the scope of spending for the state’s Voluntary Offshore Wind and Coastal Resources Protection Fund, and legislation in Congress that would conditionally prohibit commercial offshore wind energy development in the Columbia Management Area.
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., introduced the latter legislation and said in a release that it aims to “protect coastal communities and the aquaculture, fishing, and recreation industries by prohibiting wind energy development off the coast of [Washington] and [Oregon] unless it is proven they will not face adverse impacts from offshore wind projects.”
Other recent developments in the U.S. offshore wind industry include:
- The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the state of Maryland entered into a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on identifying areas for offshore wind leases and addressing siting challenges;
- A report from Synapse Energy Economics, completed on behalf of the Sierra Club, found that a joint deployment of 9 GW of offshore wind by 2030 from Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island could save New England ratepayers $630 million per year on average;
- New Jersey will receive a $125 million settlement from developer Ørsted after it canceled two wind projects offshore the state, and;
- Offshore wind industry leaders including RWE and GE Vernova signed a letter urging state and regional regulators to reconsider elements of their offshore wind policies in order to support the industry.
An offshore wind boom is underway in the U.S. as the industry aims to meet the Biden administration’s goal of deploying 30 GW by 2030. Last year the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held its first-ever auction for offshore wind leases off the West Coast in addition to auctioning six new lease areas in the New York Bight, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held its first-ever auction for offshore wind leases off the West Coast. A record total of nine leases went into effect in 2022.
The federal government has also proposed lease sales in the Gulf of Maine and the Gulf of Mexico, where deeper waters will necessitate the use of floating wind platforms instead of fixed-bottom turbine foundations. And Ohio is working to establish an offshore wind farm in Lake Erie that would be the first U.S. freshwater farm in state-controlled waters.
Offshore wind farms are concentrated in the Northeast's shallow waters
Offshore wind projects under construction are poised to add unprecedented capacity to the nascent industry
As the industry expands, so do the number of state and federal policy measures aimed at managing offshore wind. These measures include proposals to direct some offshore wind revenue toward studies on the industry’s marine impacts, and ones that would require analysis of offshore wind’s impacts on transmission planning. Use the search field below to find individual states by their postal abbreviation, or type "US" to find activity at the federal level.
States and Congress are considering a bevy of measures
Methodology: Wind farms under construction are listed once their developers release specifics on their size and location. The policy table includes significant state and federal developments. It generally does not include project-specific developments like environmental assessments. To suggest updates or alterations, please email [email protected].
Visuals Editor Shaun Lucas and Data + Visuals Director Greg Linch contributed to this story.