The federal government is seeking proposals to develop wind energy farms off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, The Associated Press reports.
Rhode Island leaders said the move represents a significant step in efforts to bring wind turbines — and jobs — to the Ocean State’s coast.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Salazar made the announcement Wednesday at Rhode Island’s Quonset Point business and industrial park. He called the step a “major milestone” in the federal permitting process and said the federal government could sign leases with wind energy developers as soon as next year.
Rhode Island leaders said Quonset Point has the potential to serve as a hub for wind turbine assembly. That could mean hundreds of jobs for a state that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the U.S.; its jobless rate was 10.8 percent in June.
The federal government’s request for proposals relates to a 285 square-mile area between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard.
