Interesting article on the current state of offshore wind projects in the U.S. Some discussion of New York efforts (e.g., NYPA, LIPA) as well as development in the Great Lakes.

For Rhode Island and other Atlantic states, offshore wind offers the promise of jobs that might otherwise go west. The eastern states have created aggressive, self-imposed mandates to deliver a percentage of their power from renewable energy, creating a strong market for wind power. But given their dense population, they have little room for utility-scale renewable energy unless it is offshore – or imported from other regions. What [Rhode Island Governor] Carcieri and the East Coast political leaders don’t want – and what they’ve made clear they fear – is development of a federally imposed super grid of high voltage transmission lines that would push land-based Midwestern wind power 1500 or more kilometers to the energy-hungry eastern seaboard. That scenario places the manufacturing jobs in the Midwestern states, not in their own backyard.

via Offshore Awakening: US Investment Flows to Offshore Wind | Renewable Energy World.

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