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US Proposes 7+ GW New York Bight Offshore Wind Area Lease Sale

The US Department of the Interior has announced a proposed sale for offshore wind development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the New York Bight.

Dominion Energy/Illustration

This would be the first competitive offshore wind lease sale for the Biden-Harris administration.

The proposed lease areas are located in shallow waters between Long Island and the New Jersey coast and have the potential to unlock over 7 GW of offshore wind energy.

The Proposed Sale Notice includes eight lease areas in the New York Bight that could be auctioned for commercial wind energy development.

A Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) in the Federal Register today opens a 60-day public comment period and provides detailed information about potential areas that could be available for leasing, proposed lease provisions, and conditions, auction details.

Comments received by the end of the public comment period will be made available to the public and considered before deciding whether to publish a Final Sale Notice, which will announce the time and date of the lease sale.

With regard to prospective bidders, The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) requires the submission of the required qualification materials from any bidders that BOEM has not previously qualified for a New York Bight lease sale. Qualification materials must be postmarked no later than 13 August.

”Climate change poses an existential threat — not just to our environment, but to our health, our communities, and our economic well-being. The Biden-Harris administration recognizes the urgency of this moment, and the development of renewable energy resources is an important piece of addressing this reality,” said US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.

”Today’s announcement of new proposed lease stipulations puts a priority on creating and sustaining good-paying union jobs as we build a clean energy economy.”

BOEM is also seeking feedback on several innovative lease stipulations that will reaffirm its commitment to create good-paying union jobs and engage with all stakeholders and ocean users.

Some of these potential stipulations include a requirement to make every reasonable effort to enter into a project labor agreement covering the construction of any project proposed for the lease area; and a requirement to include a stakeholder and ocean user engagement summary as part of a lessee’s progress reporting requirements.

This summary would describe existing ocean users in the New York Bight, engagement activities with those users during the reporting period, and a description of efforts to minimize any conflict between the existing users and the lessee. This provision is intended to strengthen current fisheries communication requirements and improve coordination between the lessee and fishing communities early in the planning of proposed wind facilities.

Another stipulation would be mechanisms to provide benefits to underserved communities and investments in a domestic supply chain, consistent with the goals and objectives of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

”The New York Bight is a prime example of how regional cooperation, partnerships, and stakeholder feedback can come together to identify areas suitable for offshore wind development,” said BOEM Director Amanda Lefton.

”Today’s announcement demonstrates that fighting climate change and creating union jobs can go hand in hand.”

The announcement is part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of installing 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030.

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It builds upon recent milestones to advance offshore wind development in the US including the approval of the construction and operation of the Vineyard Wind 1 – the first large scale project in US federal waters; an agreement to advance areas for offshore wind off the northern and central coasts of California, the first meaningful step toward potential development in the Pacific; steps to assess potential renewable energy opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico; and the initiation of the review process for two new projects, Revolution Wind offshore Rhode Island and Ocean Wind offshore New Jersey.

To date, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has held eight competitive lease sales and issued 17 active commercial offshore wind leases on the Atlantic from Massachusetts to North Carolina.