Advanced Energy Perspectives

Navigating the complexities of permitting for U.S. offshore wind projects requires strategic collaboration among diverse stakeholders. To avoid project delays, and to enable large-scale strategic approval processes to happen rapidly, a coordinated effort between the federal government, regulators, developers, and stakeholders is required.  

But, how can this be done? 

On April 2nd, I had the opportunity to moderate a webinar discussion hosted by Reuters exploring this very topic, specifically: how do we streamline decision-making and the permitting process to create a supportive ecosystem for offshore wind projects? I was joined by a group of all-star panelists each of whom is extremely knowledgeable and experienced in this space: Pilar Patterson of Ørsted (an Advanced Energy United member), Stephanie Wilson of Atlantic Shores, Jennifer Flood of Southcoast Wind, and Hollie Emery of the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management.

Our industry has a story to tell. It is a great story. It is the story of a growing, job-creating, economic engine of our society. It’s about an industry that is poised to leverage billions of dollars in federal and state funds into many billions more in private investment to transform our energy infrastructure and create the path to a cleaner, more reliable, more affordable energy future. It’s about the chance to bring people who have been ignored or excluded into the energy resource planning process to define and implement community benefit projects that are, in fact, beneficial.  

In May 2023, Xcel Energy Colorado filed its inaugural Gas Infrastructure Plan (GIP). Not only was this a first for Colorado, but in a national regulatory landscape light on gas utility oversight, it was also among the first of its kind nationwide. With the gas industry facing unprecedented headwinds – and in light of changing policy, technology, and market conditions – states are looking for new tools to understand and evaluate gas infrastructure investments. Colorado is at the forefront of that change, with state, city, and county emissions reduction policies and programs layered on top of generous state and federal rebates and incentives for clean appliances. In addition, gas commodity and infrastructure costs are rising, and innovation and scale are happening in the cold-climate heating solutions marketplace. All of these beg the question: how do we align long-lived, ratepayer-funded utility infrastructure investments with these long-term trends while still providing for our energy needs in the near term?

Over the past few months, Advanced Energy United and Advanced Energy Institute welcomed four industry leaders to its Board of Directors: Yousef AbuGharbieh of Modern Energy, Liesl Eichler Clark of University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, Neal Kemkar of Galvanize Climate Solutions, and Amith Kota of Landis+Gyr.

In a rare joint session of the Senate’s Environment and Energy Committee and the Assembly’s Telecommunications and Utilities Committees last week, the future of New Jersey’s energy portfolio was debated.