By: Lily Wear
The Biden Administration recently approved their tenth offshore wind project in federal waters. This approval will lead to 15 gigawatts of energy being produced from offshore wind in the US, half of the goal that Joe Biden set at the beginning of his term. Offshore wind has been touted by many, including the Biden-Harris administration as a positive solution to energy concerns surrounding climate change. Some politicians, including Donald Trump, have criticized the technology and its implementation saying it has negative effects on wildlife. These opposing views from both candidates make the 2024 election a pivotal moment for offshore wind as Kamala Harris has indicated she will continue with Biden’s renewable goals and Trump has said he will “shut it all down on day one”. This leaves the question of the future of the technology in the United States, and whether the country will be able to meet its 2030 goal set by Biden to have a 30-gigawatt energy capacity in offshore wind in federal waters.
Though wind power is not a new technology, recent technological improvements, including offshore wind have increased its output and potential. The first offshore wind farms were constructed in Denmark in the early 90s and Europe has been a leader in the area since. Offshore wind is relatively new to the United States, with the first grid-connected project being installed in 2013 off the coast of Maine, and in 2016 the first offshore wind farm began operation off the coast of Rhode Island. Offshore wind farms operate in federal waters through a lease from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) within the Department of the Interior. After the area is assessed, interest from the public and private companies is considered, and the government approves the project, the lease goes to auction. Lease terms differ by region, an example of a lease schedule in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island area is a twenty-five-year operation term following approval of their site assessment, and construction and operations plans within a five-year period. Trump has suggested that he may block Biden’s recent federal water lease approval as well as others Biden has approved. Trump and others have cited the effects offshore wind has on wildlife and have said that BOEM must do more in-depth research on sites before approving leases. The Heartland Institute will brief the US Court for the District of Columbia looking to block a project off of the coast of Virginia. The group has a history of backing the former president and has aligned energy policy opinions. This and other legal challenges will likely add leverage to Trump’s delays in offshore wind projects should Trump be elected.
If elected, Trump has said he will terminate these leases which would have large and lasting effects on the energy sector. It’s likely that Trump would be able to put a halt on most of the approved projects as leases have not yet been sold to any party, so the government does not have legal obligations to companies. Near the end of Trump’s term in office, his administration canceled permitting for Vineyard Wind, which the Biden Administration reinstated, which has since begun operation. Experts do not expect Trump to rescind existing leases, but they expect that BOEM will slow or stop their future leasing or switch to focusing exclusively on the extraction of fossil fuels in federal waters. This would shift the direction the US energy sector is going in, changing infrastructure and existing supply chains. These changes would likely also reduce innovation in offshore wind power as companies would have decreased motivation to improve a technology where there is no space to enter.
The upcoming presidential election will mark a turning point in the US energy sector. Trump and Harris are set to move offshore wind in opposite directions which will likely have lasting effects on where Americans get their energy. The Office of the President has flipped parties in recent elections, and both sides have swayed the prominence of wind in the energy industry. Harris has said her plans for renewable energy will largely continue in the direction Biden has gone in, while Trump has said on his first day he will halt Biden’s progress for offshore wind. This leaves Biden’s most recent approval for leasing off the east coast in jeopardy. In November, following the election, we will learn more about the uncertain future of offshore wind.
Student Bio: Lily Wear is a second-year law student at Suffolk University Law School and a staff member for the Journal of High Technology Law. Lily Received a Bachelor of the Arts Degree in Environmental Science from Trinity College, Connecticut in 2022.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
