Johanna Neumann
Senior Director, Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy, Environment America Research & Policy Center
Statement: New England governors ink multi-state offshore wind procurement deal
Media Contacts
BOSTON — The governors of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island announced on Wednesday a first-in-the-nation memorandum of understanding (MOU) to coordinate offshore wind development throughout the three-state region.
Under the agreement, offshore wind developers can submit multi-state offshore wind project proposals that each state will consider for procurements in 2024. The states’ solicitations are for up to 6,000 MW of offshore wind. Under the agreement, any two or three states may agree to select proposals up to each states’ procurement authority and split the anticipated megawatts and renewable energy certificates from a single project.
As inflation and higher financing costs have thrown some offshore wind projects into uncertainty, the MOU could lead to lower costs that stem from developing projects at scale as well as a coordinated selection of offshore wind projects in the region.
The MOU can be found at the following respective State Energy Office websites: Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
In response, Environment America Research and Policy Center’s Senior Director for 100% Renewable Energy Johanna Neumann released the following statement:
“New England’s governors recognize how important offshore wind is to reaching our clean energy goals. The sooner we tap the region’s vast offshore wind potential, the sooner we’ll have cleaner air and less of the pollution dangerously warming our planet.
“This multi-state agreement has the potential to propel offshore wind development in southern New England. The coastal areas of these three states have enough offshore wind potential to meet current and future energy needs, even in a scenario where buildings, transportation and industry go all-electric by 2050.
“It’s high time we start harnessing our immense amounts of offshore wind and ending our dependence on dirty energy sources that pollute our air, causing tens of thousands of people to die prematurely each year.”