Special Initiative on Offshore Wind Articles

Offshore Wind Public Participation Guides

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Offshore wind promises to supply large amounts of clean energy to America’s largest cities and coastal regions while launching tens of thousands of new careers and generating new investments in coastal infrastructure. Even so, all infrastructure development has unintended impacts, and members of other ocean industries and coastal communities have made it clear they want a say in the offshore wind development process. Those opportunities exist, but the process is sometimes opaque.

To that end, SIOW and AWEA partnered to produce a new guide designed to highlight public participation opportunities in the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (housed within the U.S. Department of the Interior) regulatory process that governs leasing of areas on the Outer Continental Shelf for renewable energy development.

In addition, SIOW developed three state-based guides to help deliver a clearer picture of the offshore wind regulatory processes in three different states. These new Offshore Wind Public Participation guides describe how the public has shaped offshore wind siting and planning in all three states and how they can participate moving forward.

Full Guide: Offshore Wind Public Participation Guide
Federal (BOEM) Guide
Massachusetts Guide
Rhode Island Guide
New Jersey Guide