US Senators Introduce Bill To Fuel Investment In Offshore Wind Energy

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th June, 2019) US senators pushed a measure designed to increase investment in the offshore wind power industry to create jobs and lower electric bills, US Senator Bob Menendez's office said in a press release.

"This is smart policy that grows jobs, keeps the U.S. at the forefront of the latest cutting edge technology, increases our global economic competitiveness, and makes our nation more secure by reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy," Menendez was quoted as saying in the release on Wednesday.

The Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act would extend the wind investment tax credit at 30 percent for offshore wind projects that kickoff by 2027 or the year after the United States hits 3,000MW in new offshore wind capacity, the release said.

The Energy Department has estimated that there is about 2,000 gigawatts (GW) of wind power potential off US shores, in the waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico, which is more than double the electricity consumed by Americans in 2015, the release added.