Feds Issue First-Ever Offshore Wind Leases

The meteorological towers would be located from six to 18 miles offshore. The federal government has jurisdiction from three to 200 miles offshore, while states have authority within the three-mile area.

Data from these efforts would have to be made available to the MMS, which will make the information public, Quimby said.

Although the developers wouldn't keep their data to themselves, they have incentives to pay the fees to gather the information.

Bluewater Wind, for example, has signed a deal to supply power to Delmarva Power in Delaware. The agreement would require Bluewater to build a wind farm with up to 200 megawatts in generation capacity.

New Jersey set up a program last October that would give $4 million to each company for erecting meteorological towers.

"The companies have their ducks lined up, and they are confident that they will get the production leases once they have the scientific data they need," Quimby said.

The production leases would allow the companies to build wind farms. Quimby noted that companies that have received exploratory leases for meteorological towers don't get preferential treatment when they apply for production leases.

Collecting meteorological data isn't a requirement for getting the production leases, however.

The developer of the controversial, 420-megawatt Cape Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts already has applied for a production lease, and is going through the permitting process using data it has collected onshore, Quimby said.