Welcome to Dorsey’s Energy Law: Month in Review. We provide this update to our clients to identify significant developments in the previous month. ...more
California has tremendous offshore wind resources and ambitious offshore power goals, but the uncertain rules and regimes for development have delayed implementation of projects. The California Energy Commission (CEC)...more
A new proposal aims to streamline the process for permitting and developing offshore renewable energy projects and reduce costs to developers. On January 30, 2023, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a...more
The California coast is home to some of the best offshore wind resources in the country. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates that California's coast has a resource potential of 201,000 megawatts (MW) of...more
Existing safety and environmental oversight and enforcement regulations governing Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) renewable energy activities were moved from the purview of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to that...more
The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a proposed rule to update regulations for the development of offshore wind energy resources, found at 30 C.F.R. Part 585.1 The...more
California’s first upcoming offshore wind lease sale, scheduled for December 6, 2022, is the next major step forward for clean energy in the Golden State. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the State of...more
The Inflation Reduction Act spending bill, reflecting compromise between Senator Joe Manchin and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, contains several measures to bolster offshore wind and other renewable energy development in the...more
The proposal would auction off almost 375,000 acres of the Outer Continental Shelf offshore California for wind energy development. Key Points: ..The two areas proposed for leasing have the potential to provide more...more
During her oral testimony on U.S. Department of the Interior Fiscal Year 2023 budget priorities before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and National Resources on May 19, 2022, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced that...more
On April 29, 2022, BOEM published a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) for six distinct areas in the Central Atlantic comprising almost 3.9 million acres, which are shown on the map below. BOEM will consider...more
The Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) revealed its intention to request Calls for Information and Nominations for a variety of Call Areas along the Central Atlantic and Oregon coasts on April 27. The Calls for...more
2021 witnessed a new but familiar competition among stakeholders for the use and enjoyment of the Outer Continental Shelf. Last year, interested parties initiated five lawsuits against the first federally approved offshore...more
The California coast offers significant potential for offshore wind development that can help the state reach its renewable energy goals. Developers of wind energy projects located off the California coast will face a number...more
The California Legislature on Sept. 9, 2021, approved landmark state legislation to facilitate California's offshore wind energy potential. Assembly Bill (AB) 525 requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to prepare a...more
On June 11, 2021, the US Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a proposed sale notice to sell commercial wind energy leases on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the New York...more
Since the enactment of the Jones Act, courts have wrestled to define "seaman" and who is entitled to remedies under the Jones Act. The Jones Act grants a "seaman" a negligence cause of action against his employer and only a...more
In its first offshore wind ruling following amendments to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) under the National Defense Authorization for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), which amended OCSLA to clarify its application to...more
In a ruling dated Jan. 27, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for the first time expressly found that the Jones Act applies to transportation of merchandise from a U.S. port to a location on the outer continental...more
The House of Representatives passed legislation, H.R. 4447, the Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act of 2019, on September 24, 2020, that included a provision from Representatives Garamendi and Lowenthal (“Amendment...more
Late last week, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Ranking Member Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, issued a joint statement announcing that both chambers of Congress have reached agreement on the...more
Through the last several Administrations (Democrat and Republican) the mantra has been “we support an all-of-the-above strategy” to meet U.S. energy needs. Expect that to change. The Biden Administration’s focus will shift to...more
Stakeholders in offshore wind construction projects, including vessel owners and operators, project developers, and equipment manufacturers, should ensure that their plans for offshore wind development comply with the Jones...more
Stakeholders in offshore wind, particularly vessel operators and project managers, should ignore a recent U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) ruling on offshore wind. While there had been buzz about this ruling, CBP...more
New England wind farms poised to lead the way in utilities converting from fossil fuel to wind generation. The race is on to build the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in the United States (US) on the federal Outer...more