December 12, 2019, by Adnan Durakovic

New Hampshire’s Governor Chris Sununu has signed an executive order preparing the US State for future offshore wind development and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Offshore Renewable Energy Task Force.

The Executive Order 2019-06 establishes four advisory boards focused on informing New Hampshire’s next steps, while calling on state agencies to report on key studies.

“New Hampshire recognizes the tremendous potential that offshore wind power has to offer,” said Governor Sununu.

“With today’s executive order, New Hampshire will ensure that this is an open and transparent process involving diverse stakeholders to balance existing offshore uses with a new source of clean energy. This will require enhanced coordination between state agencies, new studies, and continuous engagement with the public. Most of all, it’s imperative that we go through this process the right way from day one to maximize all the potential benefits of this new industry.”

This executive order lays the foundation for a stakeholder process informed by best practices from other states and ensures New Hampshire’s interests are first and foremost, the announcement said. The first BOEM Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force Meeting for the Gulf of Maine is Thursday, 12 December, at the University of New Hampshire.

The executive order establishes four advisory boards to work with stakeholders, and advise New Hampshire members of the BOEM Task Force throughout the process. The four advisory boards are Fisheries, endangered species, and environmental impacts advisory board; Workforce, economic development, and supply chain advisory board; Existing offshore industries advisory board; and Siting, transmission, and infrastructure advisory board.

All meetings will be open to the public, and each advisory board will report updates to the New Hampshire members of the BOEM Task Force quarterly and in advance of formal BOEM Task Force meetings.

Additionally, the executive order also instructs the Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI), the Department of Environmental Services (DES), and the Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA) to jointly study and report on the historical and forward-looking greenhouse gas reduction potential of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine at varying levels of system installations; and New Hampshire’s existing port infrastructure, coastal transmission infrastructure, and opportunities for New Hampshire to attract offshore wind supply chain operations to New Hampshire.

These reports will be completed no later than January 2021.