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VOWDA approves draft annual report, asks staff to track federal actions and tidy statute language
Summary
The Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority approved a draft annual report with edits, agreed to add monitoring of federal developments to recommendations, directed staff to incorporate research/innovation language and to generalize public-private partnership code language, and scheduled a November meeting in Richmond.
The Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority voted to approve a draft annual report and directed staff to incorporate a set of agreed edits, including an explicit recommendation to evaluate federal developments and legislation that could affect current and future offshore wind projects.
The vote came during a discussion of edits to the report and proposed amendments to the Authority’s enabling language in state code. Members also asked staff to generalize public‑private partnership language, add explicit research and innovation wording to objectives and reference the governor’s "all of the above" energy plan alongside the Virginia Clean Economy Act.
"Additionally, evaluate federal developments and legislation in impacts to current and future offshore wind projects," member Doug Faulkner proposed; members agreed to add text with similar wording to recommendation four of the draft report.
Chair Ashley McLeod asked staff to remove references to out‑of‑state project names that are now historical and to update dates and membership lists. The authority also instructed staff to add "research, development and innovation" into the objectives so the report explicitly covers innovation activity related to offshore wind.
Members debated a statutory provision that authorizes public‑private partnerships to support offshore wind. Staff and members agreed to remove overly prescriptive, itemized language and to keep a broader authority to establish partnerships for the support of offshore wind while retaining requirements that data from those partnerships be returned to the state when public dollars are involved.
The authority recorded support for continued workforce development funding efforts raised in the meeting. Discussion included a U.S. Department of Energy workforce grant that was described as conditionally awarded and under federal review; members said workforce training investments should be framed broadly because training benefits multiple energy sectors.
On administrative items, the body scheduled its next meeting for Nov. 12 in the Richmond area from 1 to 3 p.m., asked staff to confirm a venue, and requested a final copy of the report after staff submits it to the recipients required by statute. Members also debated language about travel reimbursement; staff confirmed travel reimbursement language will remain permissive ("may reimburse") while staff checks how other authorities handle reasonable expenses for members.
The meeting ended after one public comment, when Thomas Turner, state director for Conservatives for Clean Energy, handed members a study on environmental and economic links between offshore oil and gas and offshore wind.
