Biden administration proposes offshore wind leases off LI, NJ

The Biden administration on Friday took another major step toward powering local electric grids with offshore wind power, releasing a proposed sale notice for hundreds of thousands of acres off the coasts of Long Island and New Jersey.

An auction for the lease areas could take place later this year or early next, pending a 60-day comment period, an environmental assessment and other steps, officials have previously said, with development of the wind areas potentially taking place in mid- to late 2020s and beyond.

The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management earlier this year had released maps of the proposed sites and, after briefly including areas off the entire East End of Long Island, ultimately eliminated two sections located 15 miles south of the Hamptons. BOEM said they're not being included "at this time" due to maritime traffic concerns, commercial fisheries, commercial viability and "state preferences."

New York State had urged the bureau to remove the Hamptons areas from consideration, citing commercial fishing, shipping and aesthetic concerns. Local officials also had expressed opposition, including Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, who said the turbines 15 miles from the coast would present view shed concerns for residents.

The newly proposed New York Bight lease sale consists of eight proposed lease areas ranging in size from 43,056 acres to more than 87,000 acres. In total, the amount of area being offered in the lease sale encompasses 627,331 acres, most in areas known as Hudson North and Hudson South, that are closer to the New Jersey coast than to Long Island.

Another proposed area known as Central Bight is just south of one currently leased to Norway-based Equinor for a 816-megawatt project known as Empire Wind, starting around 15 miles from Long Island’s western and central South Shore.

The Biden administration Friday said the new lease areas, if built out, would produce some 7,000 megawatts of wind power, enough to power 2.6 million homes and "thousands of new jobs."

The new lease offering "puts a priority on creating and sustaining good paying union jobs as we build a clean energy economy," Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in a statement. The administration has set a goal of 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030.

Large sections of the newly proposed lease areas are used by commercial fishermen for the harvest of squid, whiting and sea scallops, among other fish, and fishing groups have raised questions about their ability to continue to fish among wind turbines spaced around one nautical mile apart.

On Friday, the Fisheries Survival Fund, representing scallop fishermen and others in the industry, urged the Biden administration to "incrementally change" the proposed lease areas, noting that two are "located in particularly sensitive areas for scallops," and would have a "serious negative impact" on the scallop fishery.

BOEM, in a statement, said the lease process will include a list of stipulations that would require developers to, among other things, issue a summary of existing users of their area and a "description of efforts to minimize any conflict between existing users" and the developer.

The federal government has previously held eight lease sales resulting in 17 commercial leases from North Carolina to Massachusetts.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who has advanced ambitious goals for green energy and wind power for the state, said the latest step by the Biden administration will help "unlock the potential for 10,000 jobs and billions of dollars in private investments in New York alone."

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.