Salazar, Atlantic govs boost wind energy cooperation

The Interior Department is forming a new “consortium” with Atlantic Coast states to help spur development of offshore wind power projects, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Friday.

Salazar, appearing with a group of the governors, also said he has instructed Interior officials to examine ways to streamline the permitting of projects in federal waters.

Salazar announced the plan after meeting at Interior headquarters with the governors of Maine, Rhode Island, Delaware, Virginia and Maryland. The Massachusetts governor joined the meeting by phone.

“Hopefully we will have something to move forward with in 30 days,” Salazar said.

“Our view is that working together with states, we can do more to stand up the offshore wind industry and create jobs here in this country and create clean energy,” he said.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Energy Department and the Defense Department will also be involved, he said.

Salazar said developing offshore wind is getting more attention under the Obama administration than it did under President George W. Bush. “It had not been a priority,” he said. “It is a priority now.”

Companies are already planning projects off the coasts of several Atlantic states. Interior, in a report last year, said the most promising offshore wind resources could meet 20 percent of coastal states’ power needs, and overall wind potential is far greater still.