Offshore Windfall: What Approval of the United States' First Offshore Wind Project Means for the Offshore Wind Energy Industry

Authors

Michael P. Giordano, University of Richmond School of Law

Abstract

This comment explores the Cape Wind project with an emphasis on its role as the first United States offshore wind energy project. Part II of this comment explains the potential energy resource that offshore wind provides and examines some of the economic, technological, and regulatory challenges facing the development of offshore wind projects in United States waters. Part III of this comment introduces the Cape Wind project as a case study by briefly describing the particular political struggles and permitting challenges faced by its developers. Part IV of this comment analyzes how DOI approval and the eventual construction of Cape Wind will influence the offshore wind industry in the United States. This comment concludes that the offshore wind energy industry is poised for enormous growth immediately after Cape Wind's turbines are spinning and providing electricity to the power grid.

Recommended Citation

Michael P. Giordano, Offshore Windfall: What Approval of the United States' First Offshore Wind Project Means for the Offshore Wind Energy Industry, 44 U. Rich. L. Rev. 1149 (2010).
Available at: https://scholarship.richmond.edu/lawreview/vol44/iss3/8