Oregon has released a draft offshore wind roadmap outlining multiple possible paths forward, including one in which no turbines are built off the coast.
The roadmap has been in the works since 2024. The document is intended to guide policymakers on offshore wind developments. The state is seeking public comment before finalizing the plan.
The federal government previously attempted to lease an area off the Southern Oregon Coast but cancelled after most developers backed out. The cancellation also aligned with an executive order from President Donald Trump seeking to stop offshore wind production.
The offshore wind proposals also faced opposition from residents, the fishing industry, tribes and the state, which raised concerns about the accelerated federal process.
Jeff Burright has been spearheading the roadmap for the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. He said the roadmap initially mirrored plans in California, New York and other states. Those plans focus on the roadblocks that must be addressed to streamline offshore wind development.
But Burright said expectations about the state's roadmap began to change after meeting with coastal communities.
“Through all of that conversation, what we learned is that there's not a clear and simple path to offshore wind right now,” he said.
Instead of endorsing a single outcome, Oregon’s draft lays out actions for a range of scenarios, including no offshore wind at all.
The roadmap outlines tiered policy recommendations, with each level of offshore wind participation incorporating the recommendations from the previous level and adding new ones.
Even if the state chooses not to permit offshore wind energy, the plan recommends conducting a regional power transmission grid analysis to address coastal energy resilience needs.
“There are also some of the nearer-term actions that are related to the economic opportunities,” Burright said. “One of the paths that we consider in the roadmap is one where Oregon tries to participate in the supply chain for offshore wind, the various components, try to find our niche.”
California is moving forward with offshore wind leases, and coordination could help Oregon businesses supply materials or services to build and deploy those turbines.
The roadmap also identifies different “checkpoints” during the federal process, where Oregon can reexamine its role and decide to stop or switch to a different approach.
One key recommendation is to review the state's policies on offshore energy projects.
“Part five of the territorial sea plan was originally written with wave energy in mind,” he said. “That was the energy source that was generating a lot of conversation 10 or 20 years ago, and so when people were writing these policies, that was on their mind.”
Offshore wind projects would be located much farther from shore than wave energy systems and would be more likely to create a visual disruption on the horizon because of their height.
Burright added that another important recommendation is codifying community benefit agreements into the regulatory process. In California, developers have agreed to some form of agreement with coastal communities to provide economic benefits, such as workforce training or local investments, but the process is not fully defined.
Burright said the state should consider how to enforce such agreements and how to support communities and tribes through that process, which often involves time-consuming and expensive negotiations with developers.
The roadmap is open for public comment until April 3. Then, Burright said the Offshore Wind Roadmap Roundtable will reconvene to review the feedback and determine what will be incorporated into the final version.
Burright said he hopes to get it delivered to lawmakers by the summer.
