Federal Revenue and Economic Impacts from BOEM Offshore Wind Leasing

In October 2021, BOEM announced a proposed schedule for seven new lease area auctions across the United States by 2025. These include areas in the New York Bight, Northern & Central California, Carolina Long Bay, Oregon, the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Maine, and the Central Atlantic. In the first three lease areas—New York Bight, California, and Carolina Long Bay—BOEM has already progressed to the Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) phase of the leasing process within previously identified Wind Energy Areas (WEAs). This study forecasts the revenue that BOEM could expect to accrue both from the sale of the area leases and the long-term rents and operating fees paid by projects developed in those areas, which necessarily involves estimating the size of the lease areas that will go to auction in the remaining four lease areas. Economic impacts from these future projects are also calculated.

We estimate that BOEM may lease between 6,600 and 11,400 square kilometers of area across the seven regions, generating between $1.6 and $2.7 billion in lease sale revenue over the next four years and an additional $1.1 to $1.8 billion in rents and operating fees for a total of $2.7 to $4.5 billion in new revenue over the coming decades. These leases are estimated to support between 23 GW and 40 GW of new offshore wind projects, representing over $120 billion of clean energy investment. The construction of these projects is expected to support between 73,000 and 128,000 jobs, while a further 28,000 to 48,000 jobs in operations and maintenance roles, in the supply chain, and in surrounding communities for the life of the projects could be permanently supported.

The ACP-produced report is co-sponsored by ACP-California, the National Ocean Industries Association, the New York Offshore Wind Alliance, RENEW Northeast, Inc., The Southeastern Wind Coalition, and The Special Initiative on Offshore Wind.

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