New York regulators are likely just weeks away from deciding how the state will go about buying its first 800MW of offshore wind, a critical if complex decision with the potential to swing the programme’s price tag by more than $1bn in either direction.

Earlier this month New York’s Public Service Commission closed the public comment period on how the state should procure its initial slug of offshore wind, with two solicitations of 400MW or more expected to launch later this year and next.