Sen. Whitehouse seeks stakeholder feedback on bill to improve offshore wind development

Eying new sources of affordable clean energy for the grid, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) this week released a discussion draft of legislation to drum up feedback from stakeholders nationwide on how to improve the offshore wind development process.

The future bill will be called the Create Offshore Leadership and Livelihood Alignment By Operating Responsibly And Together for the Environment (COLLABORATE) Act. The bill would revamp permitting, coordination and cooperation between agencies and developers, create a holistic process for offshore wind transmission, and increase support for fisheries and other potentially affected stakeholders. As such, Whitehouse opened feedback to federal, state and local agencies, as well as private industry and communities across the country. 

“Offshore wind is an abundant resource that we have to harness to meet our climate and clean energy goals. To unlock the full potential of offshore wind, we need to lower the barriers standing in the way of growth,” Whitehouse said. “The Block Island Wind Farm is a successful model for offshore wind development. My legislation applies the Rhode Island model of good-faith cooperation to the federal interagency process, while streamlining permitting and transmission problems.”

Rhode Island took on the country’s first offshore wind farm in 2016. Now, Whitehouse seeks comments on a path forward by Feb. 9. 

Among the many provisions in this draft of a bill are, notably: creation of a new White House position known as the director of offshore wind, the creation of a five-year leasing schedule for offshore wind, a new meeting schedule for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a new rule at BOEM for permitting offshore wind transmission, new task forces and creation of a fund and formula to compensate stakeholders.