Offshore wind energy could become a major source of affordable, renewable power for New York State, especially on Long Island and in the New York City metropolitan area, where demand on the grid is greatest. Generating electricity with wind turbines located off of New York’s Atlantic coast has the potential to provide up to 39,000 megawatts (MW) of clean power for the State, enough to power 15 million homes.

In his 2017 State of the State address, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo proposed an unprecedented commitment to develop up to 2,400 MW of offshore wind power by 2030, enough energy to power 1.2 million homes. This year in his 2018 State of the State, Governor Cuomo called for at least 800 megawatts of offshore wind power to be procured between two solicitations—in 2018 and 2019—that will result in enough clean, renewable energy to power 400,000 New York households. To achieve the Governor’s commitment, NYSERDA launched a process to consider offshore wind procurement options [PDF] through a filing in January 2018 with the New York State Public Service Commission.

Benefits of offshore wind include:

• Clean, locally produced power where demand is highest
• Significant investments in coastal infrastructure and communities
• The opportunity for thousands of short- and long-term skilled construction, manufacturing, and operations jobs
• Renewable energy generation close to a densely populated region
• Diversified electricity supply

Offshore wind will support the State's ambitious Clean Energy Standard, which requires that 50 percent of New York's electricity come from renewable energy by 2030.