5. Overview
• Federal jurisdictional waters vs. State
jurisdictional waters
• Permitting/Siting at the State level
• Which states are active?
• What are they doing?
• What does the future hold?
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6. Siting Authority – Federal Waters
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) under the
jurisdiction of:
• Minerals Management Service (MMS)
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
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8. Siting Authority – State Waters
• Great Lakes
– each state out to center of lake
• Atlantic/Pacific coasts
– up to 3 nautical miles offshore
• Gulf of Mexico (Texas, Florida)
– 9 nautical miles offshore
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9. Outer Continental Shelf
Permitting/Siting of Offshore Wind
• Minerals Management Service (MMS) lead
federal permitting agency under NEPA
– Promulgated regulations for granting competitive /
non-competitive commercial leases, limited leases,
rights-of-way and rights-of-use and easements on the
OCS.
– Requires consultation with numerous other federal
agencies, including U.S. Coast Guard, Fish & Wildlife
Service, FERC, Federal Aviation Administration, PLUS
state agencies.
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10. Great Lakes Permitting / Siting
of Offshore Wind
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be
lead federal permitting agency
– NEPA review will be triggered through permit
• Section 10 of Rivers & Harbors Act
• Section 404 of Clean Water Act
– EIS vs. EA? Depends on size, location…
– Programmatic assessments?
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11. Great Lakes Permitting / Siting of
Offshore Wind, con’t
• Other agencies:
– State environmental regulatory agencies
• e.g. Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality for placement of structures in the Great
Lakes – joint application process already in place
– U.S. Coast Guard
• Guidance on Offshore Renewable Energy Installations
(OCS) – will adapt to Great Lakes (Corps, not MMS)
– State coastal management agency
– Fish and wildlife (state and federal)
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12. States Active in Offshore Wind
Source: U.S. Offshore Wind Collaborative, www.usowc.org 12
13. Massachusetts
• State has issued final approvals for Cape Wind.
• Created Ocean Management Act, requiring
comprehensive development plan, including
identification of prudent sites (by Dec. 2009).
• Working with Town of Hull (including $1.7M grant)
to prepare preliminary environmental and
engineering studies for 4-turbine nearshore project.
• Massachusetts Technology Collaborative created
U.S. Offshore Wind Collaborative, including
preparation of Framework for Offshore Wind
Energy in the United States.
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14. Rhode Island
• Ocean Zoning
– Special Area Management Plan
• Selected Preferred Developer
• June 2009: Legislation signed into law that
requires state’s largest electricity supplier to
purchase energy from offshore wind farm.
– National Grid to issue requests for proposals for
10- to 15-year power purchase agreements for
at least 90 MW of its load, plus a utility-scale
offshore project of up to 150 MW.
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15. New York
• April 2009: New York Power Authority issues RFEI to
support the preparation of an RFP for Great Lakes
offshore wind project.
– Seeking technical, financial, environmental and commercial
information from the wind industry
– RFP expected to result in selection of developer to
construct/operate/maintain farm, enter into long-term PPA.
• July 2009: Long Island-New York City Offshore Wind
Collaborative RFI
– Exploring possibility of 350 MW offshore wind project apprx. 13
miles off the south shore of Rockaway.
– Interconnect study done (Con Ed/LIPA), application
filed with NYISO to interconnect up to 700 MW by 2015.
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16. New Jersey
• Blue Ribbon Panel to Evaluate Offshore Wind
• Ocean Environmental Assessment
• $12M in grants
• Selected Three Preferred Developers
• Created Energy Master Plan:
– 1,000 MW by 2012; 3,000 MW by 2020
• Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificates
– All load-serving entities required to obtain ORECs from
offshore wind, based on their percentage
of retail sales in NJ
– OREC price to be set by BPU; 20-year term
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17. Maryland
• Sept. 2009: Issued Request for Expressions of
Information and Interest
– Assessing options for offshore wind development
– Seeking to develop “in-state renewable generation
ability to fulfill some” or all of its RPS needs
– Responses to MEA from interested parties, including
developers, due early 2010
• Simultaneously launching study to evaluate
viability of offshore wind in coastal waters
– Building on marine spatial planning work in
development by MD DNR and the Nature
Conservancy
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18. Delaware
• Bluewater Wind
– July 31, 2008: PPA with
Delmarva Power & Light
approved by DE Public Service
Commission.
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19. Texas
• TX General Land Office – issued 7 leases
since 2005
– Wind Energy Systems Technology (WEST)
• 2005: Signed five leases with TX GLO, beginning
work on 150 MW project (Galveston).
• Meteorological tower has compiled almost two
years of data.
– Baryonyx Corp.
• 2009: Signed leases for three sites (two offshore),
with a potential capacity for up to 3,000 MW.
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20. Great Lakes – Consortiums
• Great Lakes Wind Collaborative
– Multi-sector coalition of wind energy stakeholders
working to facilitate the sustainable development of
wind power in the binational Great Lakes region.
• Great Lakes Wind Council
– Advisory body within the Michigan Department of
Energy, Labor and Economic Growth to provide
public forum to identify where, in the Great Lakes,
wind energy systems may be prudently sited
– Report issued September 1, 2009
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21. Michigan
• May 2008: Offshore Wind Permitting Dry-Run
• Feb. 2009: Great Lakes Wind Council created.
• Sept. 2009: Council issues final report to Gov. Granholm.
Recommendations include:
– Set of criteria to identify / map prudent siting for offshore wind.
– Legislative / rule changes to establish leasing process.
– Request that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers prepare a
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.
– PSC convene forum to work with stakeholders on an economic
analysis of different policy scenarios.
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23. Wisconsin
• January 2009: Public Service Commission – Feasibility
Report.
– Engineering and Economic Issues
– Human Environment Issues
– Legal Issues
– Community Involvement Issues
• We Energies
– Publicly committed funding to performing offshore wind studies
• Legislation?
– Increase state RPS, mandate portion in-state
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24. Ohio
• Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force
– Consortium of Cleveland Foundation, Cuyahoga County,
Case Western, City of Cleveland, others
– Issued RFQ for development of 5-20 MW offshore pilot
project.
– Entered into agreement with JW Great Lakes Wind.
• Spring 2009: Feasibility study issued.
– Recommended prudent sites and foundation design
– Evaluated marine ecology and avian issues
– Provided cost estimates
– Recommends next steps
• Currently completing pre-construction
avian/bat and ecological studies 24
