South Carolina lawmakers passed a bill to begin exploring offshore wind and the wind energy supply chain.
House Bill 4831 directs the South Carolina Commerce Department to conduct an economic development study to evaluate the state's business advantages, economic climate, workforce readiness and other assets to create a roadmap to effectively compete to attract offshore wind energy supply chain industries. The bill passed the House in an 85-21 vote Feb. 2 and was sent on to the Senate, where it was introduced and referred to the Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry on Feb. 3.
To conduct the study and create the roadmap, the bill requires the department to consider the potential number and type of manufacturing jobs, economic benefits, industry investment including in rural areas, benefits to local tax bases and expected additional contribution to economic output. The department also would be required to consider different segments of the offshore wind supply chain, including major manufacturing operations, specialty component manufacturing, component assembly and other services for future offshore wind energy projects along the entire East Coast, not only in South Carolina.
If the bill passes the Senate and is signed by the governor, the Commerce Department has one year to submit its findings and recommendations to the legislature.
The bill was introduced in January by Rep. Jason Elliott, a Republican, and 17 cosponsors.
In 2020, former President Donald Trump placed a moratorium on offshore drilling off the coasts of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida, which effectively halted any new offshore wind for those states. In April 2021, the U.S. Interior Department under President Joe Biden revoked the legal opinion issued under the previous administration.
On Feb. 4, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the America COMPETES Act, which includes billions of dollars for domestic manufacturing of solar components and electric grid equipment and attempts to ease renewable energy development in federal areas. The bill included an amendment to restore the Interior Department's authority to hold offshore wind lease sales in federal waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and off the coasts of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
A 2016 study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory ranked South Carolina sixth among states for offshore wind potential. The state also is home to the Dominion Energy Innovation Center, a Clemson University lab in North Charleston that serves as a wind turbine research facility established in 2009.
One of the state's largest investor-owned electric utilities, Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., is a subsidiary of Dominion Energy Inc., which is investing heavily in offshore wind in its headquarters state of Virginia.