The Biden administration is backing a huge 800-megawatt offshore wind farm near Martha’s Vineyard according to a recent article in the Washington Post (“Biden administration backs nation’s biggest wind farm”). When completed in 2023 this will be over 25 times our nation’s current relatively minuscule offshore wind capacity.

While Snohomish PUD’s electric power is near 100 percent carbon-free, 16.75 percent of Washington state’s 3,395 megawatts of electric power generation is fossil-fueled. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Maps, southwest Washington’s offshore wind energy profile appears to be similar to the area President Biden is supporting off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

If, in fact, the Martha’s Vineyard offshore wind farm would be viable also on our West Coast, then if we were to persuade the Biden administration to back an even 25 percent smaller offshore wind farm here, it could apparently result in Washington achieving a 100 percent carbon-free electric power grid. If such a strategy for clean power were to be combined with a statewide clean fuel standard such as currently in the Washington Senate, and Congress’ ongoing interest in the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (a “price on carbon”), then we Washingtonians could proudly “breath a sigh of fresh air.”

Lee Alley

Snohomish