Category — DOI News

On November 28, 2011, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk announced the beginning of a major reform of federal surface leasing regulations for American Indian Lands.  The Department of the Interior, as trustee responsible for managing approximately 56 million surface acres in Indian Country, currently processes requests for land leases and subleases without a defined process or deadline for review.  Attempts to engage in lease or mortgage transactions can languish for years. [Read more →]

On April 19, 2011, Ken Salazar, the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Interior (“Interior”) announced that the Cape Wind Energy Project’s Construction and Operation Plan (“COP”) received approval from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (“BOEMRE”).  [Read more →]

On February 7, 2011, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) and Department of the Interior (“Interior”) announced a joint strategic plan entitled the National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Industry in the United States in order to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind and decrease cost. [Read more →]

On October 6, 2010, Secretary Salazar and Cape Wind Associates, LLC signed the first lease for commercial wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”), the Cape Wind Project.  The Cape Wind Project has 130 planned wind turbines which could then create up to 468 megawatts, with an average output of 182 megawatts.  The Cape Wind Project could power over 200,000 homes in Massachusetts, roughly 75 percent of electricity demand in Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket Island.  The lease for the Cape Wind Project is for 28 years and will cost Cape Wind Associates a 2 to 7 percent operating fee while in production which equals $88,278 a year. [Read more →]

On January 29, 2010, the U.S. Department of Interior (“DOI”) and Department of Energy (“DOE”) announced that the agencies have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to collaborate in developing commercial-scale offshore renewable energy projects on the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”).  [Read more →]