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Augusta, ME: Today, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held an energy lease sale on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Maine. The auction resulted in two provisional winners on four lease areas, generating $21.9 million in winning bids. If fully developed, the leased areas have the potential to power more than 2.3 million homes with clean energy. In response, League of Conservation Voters, Maine Conservation Voters, Environmental League of Massachusetts, and New England for Offshore Wind released the following statements:
“Today’s lease sale is a clear sign of the vital role offshore wind will play in not only New England’s but the nation’s energy future,” said David Shadburn, Senior Government Affairs Advocate, Climate Change and Clean Energy. “With now 10 major offshore wind projects approved and the first commercial scale offshore project now online, today’s sale comes at the tail end of the best year ever for offshore wind in the U.S. The Biden-Harris Administration continues to deliver more clean energy jobs and reliable affordable energy for millions of Americans across the country.”
“I am thrilled to see the next step toward bringing homegrown offshore wind to Maine that will create good union jobs, get us off volatile and expensive fossil fuels, and help to protect families from further disasters,” said Lucy Hochschartner, Climate and Clean Energy Director at Maine Conservation Voters.
“We are delighted by this momentous first step in deploying responsibly developed offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine,” said Kelt Wilska, Offshore Wind Director at the Environmental League of Massachusetts and Regional Lead for New England for Offshore Wind. “The successful lease of these four offshore wind areas represents an incredible opportunity for New England states to issue collaborative procurements that will maximize the Gulf of Maine’s robust wind resource, unlock economies of scale, accelerate development and improve project outcomes across our shared grid.”
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Members of NE4OSW, including organized labor and environmental and conservation groups, have worked vigorously since 2021 to secure strong labor standards for the state’s offshore wind law, ensure offshore wind lease areas protect vital lobstering grounds, stand with Indigenous communities, and engage the most-impacted communities. Their efforts have helped ensure that offshore wind developers have critical market incentives to build the much-needed offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Maine, where about 13 GW of offshore wind could power over 4.5 million homes, while cutting 42% of CO2 emissions from the New England power sector and providing $362 million in annual public health benefits.