Community Engagement Key to Expanding Equitable Offshore Wind Power

Offshore wind is set to play a considerable role in the renewable energy mix in the U.S. Early and continuous engagement with affected communities will be essential to the success of this nascent sector.

Tershara Matthews, WSP’s offshore wind policy leader and senior vice president in the U.S., helps WSP clients understand where they may encounter obstacles related to offshore wind development, proactively identifying development risks to support reduced project timelines.

Before joining WSP, Matthews spent 14 years with the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), where she was responsible for leading the BOEM’s effort to make the renewable energy program for the Gulf of Mexico operational. She also oversaw the Marine Minerals Program, BOEM’s coastal protection and resiliency program that partners with communities to address erosion in U.S. coastal areas.

“The Bureau initially thought renewables would have a slow start in the Gulf, because the wind speeds there aren’t as high as in other regions,” Matthews said. “The five Gulf state governors were slow to show interest.”

Then, in 2020, the state of Louisiana submitted a request that kicked off everything. Since then, Matthews has led numerous stakeholder engagement meetings where she developed an awareness of the most prominent worries people have about offshore wind.

“The first concern with wind power is typically birds – as in, ‘we’re going to harm birds,’” she said. “So, we have to address that because there are things companies can do, like gaining an understanding of migration paths, times and seasons, when you could power the wind farms down, or even paint one of the turbine blades a different color, which can make the turbines more visible to birds.”

The other big issue is jobs — specifically, what types of jobs will be available.

“Community members tend to think there won't be as many jobs as in oil and gas, because there can be 90-to-100 people on an oil platform, whereas turbines don't require as many onsite workers,” Matthews said. “Once you start engaging community members and informing them that someone still needs to build and maintain those turbines and it could be 80-to-100 turbines for one offshore wind farm, they start feeling a bit more comfortable.”

While she does see a need for streamlining the permitting and consultation processes in the U.S., where several federal agencies are involved, Matthews said there is a tremendous potential here for offshore wind.

She noted that Europe has seen much more success in the development of these projects, because many of the countries leading the European offshore market have a “one stop shop” solution for completing the permitting and consultations, and that a similar approach could be valuable to emulate in the U.S.

Matthews sees five critical areas as essential to the success of offshore wind in the U.S.

Involving local stakeholders early and often is critical for offshore wind developments.

“At BOEM, we had almost 200 meetings and often went back to the same groups multiple times,” Matthews said. “There will be community members who, at first, may not be open these projects. Yet, it’s important to continue engaging.”

She said the most successful communication plans will:

• say things seven times in seven different ways to find the best ways for the community to receive and understand the information;
• encourage stakeholders to visit impacted communities often and get on the agenda for local meetings;
• share new information when it becomes available;
• establish a feedback loop to reinforce that you are hearing their concerns and addressing them.
• use maps and other visual aids to illustrate the plans.

2. Develop Workforce Training Programs

Offshore wind will present new career opportunities, and while some professions — such as oil and gas — have skills that are transferable to this field, there will be a need for new skills training programs. Matthews recommends that developers research community college certification programs and options from colleges and larger universities for skills development and share this information with the community.

The types of jobs and skill sets needed are vast and include a range of onshore and offshore opportunities, like:

• maintenance of turbines;
• deck hands;
• operating vessels that transfer people to and from platforms;
• turbine construction;
• onshore construction support for welders; and
• constructing turbines, blades and foundations.

While there are opportunities to transition some skills from oil and gas, incorporating equity is key. Extra provisions also are needed for underserved and tribal communities. Developers should consider other potential community needs, too, like broadband internet access to participate in training programs and to apply for jobs.

“Communities need to know these jobs exist,” Matthews said. “While workforce training, college programs and internships are important, exposure to offshore wind career opportunities should start with STEM programs in middle school. Capturing the curiosity of students and exposing them to these career opportunities is key to future growth and sustainability.”

Offshore wind growth has the potential to boost coastal communities through local economic investment and the use of diverse local suppliers.

Matthews said this makes sense because:

• using local suppliers is convenient and can reduce costs;
• having local expertise is important for understanding local conditions and requirements; and
• using local suppliers helps demonstrate the economic benefit of wind energy projects.

“Developers need a list of those suppliers, so they can work within the communities, before seeking national options,” Matthews said. “WSP works closely with the U.S. Small Business Administration to help support these efforts.”

Coastal communities also may see an increased need for housing and infrastructure improvements, as people move to these areas for new jobs.

4. Fish and Fisheries Research and Development

A critical challenge for offshore wind development is accounting for any potential environmental impacts and ensuring that fisheries suffer no adverse impacts. Many lessons were learned during planning for the first offshore wind developments in the Atlantic Ocean.

“Engaging fisheries early and often is essential, and so is an understanding that an element of proprietary knowledge exists within the fishing community regarding exactly where they fish,” Matthews said. “By taking a macro perspective and combining map layers to show historical fishing areas, as well as those that are no longer fished or trending down or up, a comprehensive model can be developed to work with the fisheries to understand the data.”

In the Gulf of Mexico, there is more historical knowledge because of the existing oil and gas infrastructure. To support developments in the Atlantic, WSP worked with regulatory stakeholders on the development of the first known effort to synthesize fish and fisheries research projects and research needs along the U.S. East Coast. The analysis provides users with another lens and criterion for prioritizing future research needs and projects.

With 574 federally recognized Native American tribes in the U.S., including several in the Gulf of Mexico region, communication can be complicated. BOEM lease agreements require developers to have a tribal liaison, because there is often a disconnect with how information flows to these groups.

“As offshore wind accelerates, the voices and concerns of tribal communities must be heard,” Matthews said. “When developments began in the Atlantic, several developers reached out to the same tribes and planned multiple meetings. In one case the process involved separate meetings involving eight regulatory agencies. As an alternative, community development meetings bring together people who may have different perspectives and can provide a more unified approach and better collaboration, while avoiding meeting fatigue. All interested parties also hear information at the same time.”

Tribal concerns usually center around offshore wind’s visual impacts to the landscape, environmental concerns, and involvement in workforce training efforts. Tribal representatives also often express a desire to be involved earlier in the development process, so that their views on impacts can be better heard and factored into planning. 

“Inclusion and engagement of Native Americans in the consultation process is important to establishing meaningful avenues of communication in a collaborative spirit.”

Alignment on comprehensive approaches for economic, cultural, marine and coastal impacts will be crucial to ensure sustainable offshore wind development. To learn more about WSP’s wind solutions, click here: https://www.wsp.com/en-us/sectors/wind-energy

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