Offshore Energy Modernization Act of 2025

This bill updates how the U.S. plans, permits, and builds offshore wind and other ocean energy. It sets national offshore wind goals—authorizing at least 30 gigawatts by 2030 and 50 gigawatts by 2035—and directs Interior to publish and update a schedule of future lease areas. It also lets lease bids count community benefits like job training, port upgrades, wildlife protections, shared transmission lines, and protection of Tribal cultural resources, and it requires project labor agreements for construction starting in 2027. Beginning in 2033, projects must use U.S.-made iron and steel and aim for 65% U.S.-made content for manufactured parts, with limited waivers when necessary.

It creates an Offshore Renewable Energy Compensation Fund to pay valid claims and support local mitigation, with money kept in “area accounts” tied to where impacts occur. Ten percent of offshore lease revenue goes into this fund, and another 10 percent goes to grants for States, Tribes, local governments, and nonprofits for coastal habitat work, resource protection, research, and organizational capacity. If a local account runs low, developers in that lease area can be charged up to $3 per acre once per year to cover payments. The bill also invests in faster, better reviews by funding Interior and NOAA to hire staff, improve data systems, and support Tribal consultations, and it adds grants to help communities engage in planning and review.

• Offshore Power Administration: A new office in the Department of Energy will plan, finance, and, if needed, build shared offshore transmission lines. It can only step in after three years and only if States and others fail to coordinate; it can borrow up to $10 billion and repay with line-use revenue, with any remaining balance forgiven at the end of a line’s life.
• Transmission standards: DOE must study and develop standards so equipment from different companies works together; grants support this work.
• Shipyard support: $100 million in grants to retool U.S. shipyards and suppliers for offshore wind vessels, plus loan guarantees to build turbine installation ships.
• Access on the water: Fishing and boating access, and Tribal cultural activities and lifeways, should be maintained around projects, with narrow exceptions for construction and maintenance.
• End-of-life planning: Within 10 years, Interior must report on options for retiring projects, including when it makes sense to leave structures in place as artificial reefs if safe.