May 9: The most recent update to this tracker removes the projects Attentive Energy One, Community Offshore Wind and Excelsior Wind after the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority announced it would not move forward with contracts for those projects due to “material modifications,” including GE Vernova’s pivot away from an 18-MW turbine model.

The policy table has been updated to include a measure in Louisiana’s legislature to recognize the economic potential of offshore wind development following the publication of a report on the topic, and a bill before Congress that would require the president to certify that offshore wind development won’t interfere with federal radar activities and airspace monitoring. 

Other recent developments in the offshore wind industry include:

• The Department of the Interior proposed the first-ever wind energy auctions offshore Oregon and in the Gulf of Maine, and announced plans for 10 other auctions through 2028;
• The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced plans to hold a second offshore wind auction in the Gulf of Mexico later this year;
• The California Independent System Operator announced a $6.1 billion transmission plan, with a heavy focus on offshore wind, and;
• Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island launched the first three-state offshore wind solicitation in the U.S.

An offshore wind boom is underway in the U.S. as the industry aims to meet the Biden administration’s goal of deploying 30 GW by 2030. Last year the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held its first-ever auction for offshore wind leases off the West Coast in addition to auctioning six new lease areas in the New York Bight, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held its first-ever auction for offshore wind leases off the West Coast. A record total of nine leases went into effect in 2022.

The federal government has also proposed lease sales in the Gulf of Maine and the Gulf of Mexico, where deeper waters will necessitate the use of floating wind platforms instead of fixed-bottom turbine foundations. And Ohio is working to establish an offshore wind farm in Lake Erie that would be the first U.S. freshwater farm in state-controlled waters.

As the industry expands, so do the number of state and federal policy measures aimed at managing offshore wind. These measures include proposals to direct some offshore wind revenue toward studies on the industry’s marine impacts, and ones that would require analysis of offshore wind’s impacts on transmission planning. Use the search field below to find individual states by their postal abbreviation, or type "US" to find activity at the federal level.

Methodology: Wind farms under construction are listed once their developers release specifics on their size and location. The policy table includes significant state and federal developments. It generally does not include project-specific developments like environmental assessments. To suggest updates or alterations, please email [email protected].