Among coastal US states, Massachusetts has taken an uncommonly aggressive approach to developing its offshore wind resource. Photo: Robert Linsdell/Flickr (cropped)

Mass. auction to include 4-5 zones

The Massachusetts offshore wind zones totalling 742,000 acres (300,000 hectares) that will be auctioned off this December will be split into four or five parcels, to be bid for separately, according to an official from the US Interior Department.

8 October 2014 19:45 GMT Updated 27 September 2016 5:51 GMT

By Karl-Erik Stromsta in Atlantic City

On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell insisted that the Massachusetts auction would not drift into 2015.

Backing away from Jewell’s comments slightly on Wednesday was Wright Frank, liaison to Assistant Interior Secretary Janice Schneider, whose portfolio includes the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

BOEM oversees the competitive lease auctions for offshore wind zones in US federal waters.

“We’re working hard to get [the Massachusetts auction] done by the end of the year,” said Frank, speaking at the AWEA Offshore conference in New Jersey.

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Wind

Mass. auction to include 4-5 zones