Clean power organizations concerned Don Young Coast Guard Authorization Act could harm offshore wind growth
In a letter to Senate leadership last week, the American Clean Power Association (ACP) voiced serious concerns about the House’s Don Young Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022, which it said could potentially stall offshore wind development.
The legislation proposes changes to longstanding rules for manning vessels in U.S. waters. The ACP warned that this would have the effect of barring offshore wind energy from deploying at scale for years, likely resulting in some projects being outright canceled.
“As written, the House maritime crewing provision is an existential threat to the future of offshore wind in the United States, and the immediate result would be the delay and potential cancelation of the 19 offshore wind projects with power offtake contracts or awards,” wrote ACP CEO Heather Zichal and 24 leading CEOs and leaders in the offshore wind sector. “The provision would require, within 120 days of passage, that crews on specialized offshore international construction vessels match the flag of the vessel or be American mariners as a condition of working on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf…The crewing provision would thus serve to block the use of these international specialized offshore vessels when there are currently no U.S.-flagged specialized construction vessels to do the work needed.”
Offshore wind represents a tremendous opportunity for the American economy, they noted, and one that has already brought at least $4 billion in commitments into U.S.-flagged vessels, workforce training, and supply chain development. In the wind industry, real solutions are needed to address a lack of U.S. mariners, a shortage of U.S.-flagged ships, and uncertainty in approval timings for offshore wind construction and operations plans.
Incentives, they added, are needed for more U.S.-flagged vessels – not the legislation as written.
“Ultimately, the offshore wind industry and Congress have the same goal: maximizing the number of Americans employed in offshore wind, including mariners,” the writers said. “Building out the domestic offshore wind industry will pay enormous economic development benefits, and aggressive deployment of offshore wind will make a material contribution to our domestic energy security. We need reasonable policies and predictable permitting timelines, not impossible mandates.”
If enacted as is, they added that the Don Young Coast Guard Authorization Act could effectively stall offshore wind development and keep the nation from achieving 30,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030. That, in turn, could be a major blow to the Biden administration’s energy transition and emissions reduction goals.
