Political winds, rather than the strength of actual air currents, are steering offshore wind energy development from Texas to Louisiana.
After the Gulf of Mexico’s first-ever offshore wind lease auction drew zero bids for sites in the waters off Texas last year, federal regulators plan to tilt the second auction toward Louisiana. Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management proposed two new lease areas, totaling about 200,000 acres, in federal waters south of the Texas-Louisiana line, an area that may strike a balance between the stronger winds near Texas and the more welcoming politics of Louisiana.
“Texas leaders said some inflammatory things about offshore wind right before the last lease sale,” said Jenny Netherton, a program manager for the Southeastern Wind Coalition. “That strongly suggested to some investors that Texas wasn’t the best bet.”
Anti-wind legislation and rhetoric from Texas state leaders created uncertainty in the market and deepened interest in Louisiana’s offshore offerings.
Despite having the Gulf’s best conditions for offshore wind development, the Texas lease area, which covers 200,000 acres near Galveston, failed to attract a single bid from developers during the late August auction. Interest in a 100,000-acre lease area near southwest Louisiana was also low, but it at least drew two bids. The winning bidder, German wind energy developer RWE, is now planning a wind farm about 40 miles south of Lake Charles.
In addition to the new lease areas near Louisiana, BOEM plans to put the Galveston areas up for auction again, bringing the total acreage to more than 410,000. If fully developed, the second-round lease areas could generate enough power for 1.2 million homes, according to federal estimates.
The lease sale proposal will undergo a public comment period that’s set to end in late May. The auction could be held as early as this summer.
Texas appears just as keen on scaring away offshore wind this year as it was last year, Netherton said. In early 2023, a state senator sponsored a bill that would have allowed Texas to block wind farms from connecting to the state’s power grid and issue fines for not meeting power generation goals. The bill failed, but the proposal had a chilling effect on the wind industry.
About a week before last year’s auction, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham pledged to do “everything in my power … to thwart this proposed boondoggle,” calling wind farms an impediment to shipping and commercial fishing.
While wind farms in federal waters are backed by many environmental groups, offshore wind opponents in Texas and other states have raised concerns about harm to birds and other wildlife and potential waste from damaged or worn-out turbines.
In contrast to Texas, Louisiana leaders have been touting offshore wind as a way to slow climate change and diversify the state economy. Former Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, highlighted the need to rapidly develop offshore wind energy to meet his goal of “net zero” carbon emissions. Edwards’ Climate Initiatives Task Force recommended that the state generate at least 5,000 megawatts per year – enough to power about 1 million homes – from offshore wind energy by 2035.
Bipartisan legislation paved the way for Louisiana’s fast-tracked approval process for wind farms in state-managed waters, which extend three miles from the coast. Louisiana has approved agreements with two companies to build small-scale wind farms near Cameron Parish and Port Fourchon.
RWE had lobbied regulators to boost leasing opportunities near Louisiana because it was “the only state along the Gulf of Mexico that has signaled its interest in pursuing offshore wind policy,” the company said in a letter to BOEM.
Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican who took office in January, hasn’t given strong indications on where he stands on offshore wind.
But support from Louisiana alone may not be enough to lure developers to the Gulf. That’s why BOEM also plans to remove a rule that limits bidders to a single lease.
Dropping the lease limit could make the Gulf more competitive with the East and West coasts, which are progressing with wind projects at a faster clip. The waters off New England boast some of the continent’s best wind speeds and large concentrations of energy customers. While Louisiana has set goals for offshore wind energy, some East Coast states have mandated that utilities draw a percentage of their power from wind and other renewable sources.
“That creates a built-in market for wind,” Netherton said. “We don’t have that here, so we need to take different approaches to make wind energy work.”
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