![]() The U.S. currently has one operating offshore wind farm: the 30-MW Block Island Offshore Wind Farm in Rhode Island. Source: Deepwater Wind |
Three Democrats have introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would establish a federal grant program for offshore wind job training and education.
U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Mass., introduced House Bill 5291, or the Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act, on March 14 with co-sponsors Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., and House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz. The bill would create funding for colleges, state and local governments and other organizations to develop initiatives such as education, internships and health and safety programs in order to develop an offshore wind workforce.
Tsongas, whose state is requiring utilities to contract 1,600 MW of offshore wind, said in a March 14 press releas that the U.S. is in the middle of a "clean energy revolution" and the renewable energy industry has opened the door for more domestic energy production and job creation in Massachusetts.
"Our legislation helps ensure that local workers are fully trained and ready to pave the way for growth and innovation in this rapidly growing clean energy industry," she said.
Keating's congressional district includes southeastern Massachusetts, where three developers are competing to fulfill local utilities' request for proposals for projects with up to 800 MW of offshore wind capacity. Building offshore wind farms will strengthen local economies, advocates say, creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
"Despite this administration's attacks on clean energy, there are plenty of hard-working Americans who are ready, willing and able to train in the wind industry," Keating said.
Nearly a dozen national and Massachusetts-based organizations have already endorsed H.R. 5291, including the Utility Workers Union of America, the American Wind Energy Association and United Steelworkers International.
H.R. 5291 has been referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Education and the Workforce, which could alter the bill. If passed, the bill could boost the private sector's efforts to train a local workforce to build and oversee offshore wind projects. Avangrid Renewables LLC's offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind LLC is investing $2 million for job training in southeastern Massachusetts near its Vineyard Offshore Wind Project site.
States across the Eastern seaboard, including New York, New Jersey and Maryland, have announced plans to include offshore wind as part of their states' clean energy goals. The U.S. has about 24,000 MW of offshore wind capacity in the project pipeline and more than 2 million MW in net technical potential offshore wind capacity, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

