“Install, baby, install”

In an attempt to cut through red tape and encourage development of offshore renewable energy projects, U.S. government agencies are agreeing to work together. The Interior Department will have jurisdiction over offshore wind and solar energy projects, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will be in charge of offshore wave and tidal current power projects.

Previously, what Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called “bureaucratic turf battles” were slowing down offshore renewable energy development.

Reuters news agency reported FERC Commissioner Philip Moeller as saying that FERC has issued about 170 preliminary permits for 10,000 megawatts of potential power generation from offshore projects.