Offshore wind projects need federal help to get built, six governors tell Biden
Six Democratic governors are warning the Biden administration that offshore wind projects need more federal funding and planning assistance
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Offshore wind projects need more federal funding and planning assistance to ensure they get built, the Democratic governors of six northeastern states told the Biden administration, warning that a cornerstone of the climate change fight could be in jeopardy.
President Joe Biden can take three steps — on tax credits, revenue sharing and permits — to help the nascent wind industry deal with challenges like inflation, supply chain and other issues, according to the letter Wednesday from the governors of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Already, one of the major offshore wind developers active in the northeast, the Danish firm Orsted, has said it considered walking away from projects in the region that have become more costly than anticipated. Although the company decided to stick with them for now, it has said it won't make a final decision on whether to actually build them until the end of this year or the beginning of 2024.
“Absent intervention, these near-term projects are increasingly at risk of failing,” the governors wrote. “Without federal action, offshore wind deployment in the U.S. is at serious risk of stalling because states’ ratepayers may be unable to absorb these significant new costs alone.”
The governors want the president to have the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issue additional guidance on how offshore wind companies can qualify for federal clean energy tax credits.
They also want to set up a revenue sharing arrangement in which money generated from offshore leases beyond state
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