Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has introduced legislation — the Create Offshore Leadership and Livelihood Alignment By Operating Responsibly And Together for the Environment (COLLABORATE) Act — to improve the offshore wind development process and get new sources of affordable renewable energy on the grid.

The COLLABORATE Act would put domestic offshore wind development on track by improving permitting, coordination, and cooperation between agencies and with developers and stakeholders. He said the act would create a holistic process for offshore wind transmission, and boost support for fisheries and other potentially affected groups, including the establishment of a compensation fund for eligible recipients.

Whitehouse released a discussion draft of the bill in January.

“Rhode Island has led an early charge in America’s offshore wind development,” Whitehouse said. “My legislation applies the Ocean State model of good-faith cooperation to the federal interagency process, while fixing permitting and transmission problems to harness our abundant offshore wind potential.”

In 2016, Rhode Island became home to the first U.S. offshore wind facility, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.

The United States has a goal to develop 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030. Offshore wind has the potential to provide enough electricity to meet two times the nation’s current demand.

Despite its promise, Whitehouse noted offshore wind development has suffered setbacks. It’s now estimated that the country will not reach the 30 GW goal until 2033 at the earliest.

Meanwhile, China leads the world in offshore wind with nearly 40 GW installed. 

The COLLABORATE Act, among other things, would:

Establish a five-year leasing schedule for offshore wind, updated every two years.
Conduct and make available for public comment studies evaluating the potential impact of offshore wind development on the human, marine, and coastal environments.

Authorize $25 million annually for capacity grants, with 2% set aside for Indigenous tribes and tribal organizations.

Use impact study results to inform identification of draft offshore wind lease areas; evaluate draft lease areas for other factors, such as potential power capacity, commercial viability, existing and future transmission availability and capacity.

Place offshore wind project judicial reviews with the Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the affected project is located.

Identify preferred offshore wind transmission cable corridors and making lines in such corridors eligible for federal transmission program financing and a new geotechnical and geophysical survey grant program.

Direct states to evaluate the incorporation of offshore wind onto their grid systems, if they have not already begun or completed such a process.

Authorize $30 million annually for research on the impacts of offshore wind development on fisheries resources, with 2% set aside for Indigenous tribes and tribal organizations.

Authorize $30 million annually to fund technologies that support the coexistence of offshore wind development with other ocean users, with 2% set aside for Indigenous tribes and tribal organizations.

The COLLABORATE Act would complement the RISEE Act, which aims to create a dedicated stream of funding from offshore wind development. The RISEE Act advanced through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a bipartisan vote in late November.