A panoply of US industry associations has put signatures to a letter urging Congress to repeal the far-reaching ban on offshore wind development off the southeast coast of the country by former President Donald Trump.
The global energy transition is gathering momentum – and the accompanying news-stream becoming an information deluge. Separate the green giants from the greenwash and the hard facts from the click-bait headlines with Recharge Agenda, our curation of the market-making events of the week, distilled down into one quick-read newsletter. Sign up here for free
Trump – a high-profile opponent of wind energy, which he falsely linked to cancer and other maladies – decreed a moratorium in the final months of his presidency on all energy development, including oil & gas as well as offshore wind, off the coasts of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, extending around the state coastline to the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
“Much of the south had a vital and reliable renewable energy resource taken away from it, along with the jobs and economic development it would bring,” the letter, which included signatories from American Clean Power (ACP), the National Ocean Industries Association and the Business Network for Offshore Wind (BNOW).
“Together, we respectfully request that both chambers [of Congress] preserve the House’s language repealing the ten-year moratorium on offshore wind leasing off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida in the final, conferenced versions of the Senate’s US Innovation and Competition Act and the House’s America Competes Act.”
Both chambers of the US Congress have put forward massive new science and technology investment bills aimed at raising American competitiveness amid competition from China’s industrial might.
Legislation that would reverse the Trump ban, the Restoring Offshore Wind Opportunities Act, has been introduced in both chambers. The House bill was vetted by the House Natural Resources Committee and has now been included in the House’s America Competes Act.
“We strongly support this inclusion and respectfully request that the Senate accede to the House’s language in any conference committee process and include this provision in the final draft,” said the letter’s signatories.
The stakes for the US south-east are high. The Biden-Harris administration is backing the offshore wind sector with the country’s first-ever national goal, for 30GW of capacity by 2030, and 110GW by 2050, which would generate tens of thousands of jobs and many billions of dollars in investment. ACP estimates the Biden administration’s goals driving more than $120bn in investment and economic activity by 2030.
The industry is ramping up quickly in the northeast, where the states of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts have taken the lead with ambitious state targets and hefty investment, but the southern states could equally share in the bonanza.
North Carolina has set a target for 8GW of offshore wind by 2040 and Avangrid is developing its 2.5GW Kitty Hawk project off the state’s northern border with Virginia.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the federal agency charged with managing energy development on the outer continental shelf, this week announced another lease sale, in the Wilmington East wind energy area (WEA) straddling the maritime border between North and South Carolina, for May. Wilmington East, with an estimated 1.3GW-1.5GW offshore wind capacity, is being sped to market before the ban takes effect.
BOEM has established another four wind energy ‘call areas’ totalling more than 1,100 square miles off South Carolina alone, putting both states in line to generate nearly $45bn in capital investment and over 37,000 jobs supported annually over the next decade from offshore wind, according to a report from research group Wood Mackenzie last year.
“The offshore wind industry is poised to create tens of thousands of well-paying jobs and domestic supply chains that will benefit businesses across the country,” said John Begala, vice president of state & federal policy at BNOW.
Other signatories to the letter include: the US National Association of Manufacturers, the Southeastern Wind Coalition, the US Chamber of Commerce and the American Waterways Operators.
