Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced offshore wind revenue legislation Tuesday that could move to the floor in the waning days of the 118th Congress.
Why it matters: The RISEE Act would set up a new revenue sharing system for offshore wind development, potentially incentivizing its development as the industry sees backlash from the incoming administration.
Driving the news: The committee approved the legislation, sponsored by Sheldon Whitehouse and Bill Cassidy, by voice vote as part of a package of dozens of other bills.
- Currently, revenue from offshore production wind goes primarily to the federal Treasury.
- RISEE would instead send much of that money to states and the National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund for coastal resilience and habitat projects. It would also let states get more money from oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.
The committee additionally approved Sen. Lisa Murkowski's Alaska Offshore Parity Act, which would set up offshore energy revenue sharing for the state, as well as a long list of public lands bills.
- And it advanced Chair Joe Manchin's DOE AI Act, a bill that would authorize AI research programs at the agency.
State of play: The RISEE Act has a price tag for the federal government, which is probably the biggest impediment to getting it done before the end of the year.
- Cassidy said he's got a list of pay-fors in mind that could be paired with the legislation and is working with Whitehouse and Senate leadership to figure out a path.
- "All these things are in flux," Cassidy told Axios after the markup. "We don't have a whole lot of vehicles, and we'd like to get it done this Congress."
The big picture: Offshore wind is likely to face challenges under President-elect Trump, who has said he wants to halt the industry's projects "on day one."
- Asked about that, Whitehouse noted the recent wind lease sale in the Gulf of Maine — Susan Collins' home state.
- "When you have the [incoming chair] of the Appropriations Committee [getting] a big offshore wind lease off of her state, things like that tend to matter," he told Nick.
