On April 28th, WDI’s Lisa Futterman (NYC Regional Director) and Eliot Cresswell (Policy Analyst) brought together a panel of industry, government, and training/educational experts to talk about the development of Offshore Wind in the U.S. and New York in particular, the jobs associated with the industry, timing of the jobs, and how to access relevant training that will lead to the jobs.
The event, Offshore Wind Energy- The Promise of Good Jobs & Clean Energy, was kicked off by Senator Joseph Addabbo (Queens, 15th) and Senator James Sanders Jr. (Queens, 10th), who were the impetus for the event and have a great interest in the Offshore Wind Industry and its opportunities for residents of their districts which include the Rockaways. Both Senators spoke of the opportunities offshore wind has in terms of economic and jobs activity, environmental benefits, and the ability of the sector to help remake NY in terms of improved equity and equality. Other legislators that sponsored the event included Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato, and Assemblymember Khaleel M. Anderson.
Panel participants included Adrienne Downey, Principal Engineer at NYSERDA, Jennifer Garvey of Orsted/Eversource, Julia Bovey of Equinor Winds, Michael Yee of IBEW Local 3, Eric Johanssen of SUNY Maritime, and Marj Issapour of SUNY Farmingdale.
Some key takeaways included:
- New York is at the forefront of the sector’s development in the U.S. With 9,000+ MW of power slated to be developed, the result is expected to be billions of dollars in economic activity across a variety of sectors.
- New York has by far the largest planned development at this time.
- There is a spectrum of jobs associated with the industry – both now and in the future - across research, planning, construction, implementation, operations/maintenance, and decommissioning. A variety of backgrounds will be needed.
- Those interested in the jobs can find training programs that directly link to them via SUNY Maritime, SUNY Farmingdale, and IBEW Local 3.
View the recorded event here for a more full picture of the industry’s potential and access the presentation slides here.
Thank you again to Senators Addabbo and Sanders, and Assemblymembers Pheffer Amato and Anderson for your support!
