Biden Administration's Focus On Offshore Wind Energy: DOI's Plan And Other Recent Developments

Highlights

• The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) recently announced that the Biden Administration would be opening up the U.S. coastline to large-scale, offshore wind farming. Under the DOI plan, the agency's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) could sponsor up to seven offshore lease sales by 2025 in the Gulf of Maine, Gulf of Mexico, New York Bight, as well as off the coasts of the Mid-Atlantic states, Carolinas, California and Oregon.
• Although the DOI's recent announcement is a promising step toward catalyzing offshore wind development, BOEM and developers will confront distinct obstacles in attempting to construct wind turbines along the coastal United States. Even once projects are identified and approved, they will still face lengthy federal, state and local permitting reviews.