Saving Seafood

As the federal government targets offshore wind, leaders gather in Virginia Beach to discuss industry’s future

May 1, 2025 — Local, national and international leaders in offshore wind have gathered in Virginia Beach this week to discuss how to keep pushing the industry forward.

The International Partnering Forum, hosted by the Oceantic Network, is promoting the far-reaching offshore wind supply chain and celebrating ongoing projects.

That includes Dominion Energy’s 176-turbine wind farm under construction just a few dozen miles away off the coast, which will be the nation’s largest.

“We are positioning Virginia Beach to become one of the main offshore wind energy hubs in this nation,” said Mayor Bobby Dyer. The city is “taking steps to work with other regions and nations to ensure this future success.”

But uncertainty and strong challenges loomed large, as officials frankly discussed President Donald Trump’s efforts to halt offshore wind.

Read the full story at WHRO

US senators renew effort to exempt seasonal seafood workers from visa caps

April 10, 2025 — U.S. senators are once again pushing legislation that would exempt temporary migrant seafood workers from counting against the national cap for H2-B visas, ensuring the industry can hire the seasonal workforce it needs.

“Virginia’s seafood industry relies on seasonal, H2-B workers to help meet demand during peak season,” U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) said in a statement. “Without this workforce, many of Virginia’s seafood processors would simply have to close up shop.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

VIRGINIA: $223M offshore wind staging area now complete at Portsmouth Marine Terminal

March 14, 2025 — The Virginia Port Authority announced this week that workers have wrapped up a hub for offshore wind equipment at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal.

Skanska began construction in 2022, working to redevelop 72 acres and 1,500 feet of an existing wharf.

“The project presented some challenges,” Stephen Edwards, CEO of the Port Authority, said in a statement Thursday. “But there was a lot of collaboration between the port and Skanska teams that yielded a project, an outcome, that was delivered on-time and on-budget.”

The $223 million project provides capacity for Dominion Energy to gather, store and transfer massive turbines and foundations for its 176-turbine wind farm about 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast. The turbines are expected to generate 2.6 gigawatts of renewable electricity.

The Port Authority received a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the area under the Biden administration.

In a joint statement at the time, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said the funding “will go a long way toward establishing Virginia as a hub for offshore wind development along the East Coast.”

Read the full article at WHRO

VIRGINIA: Virginia lawmakers look to reduce restrictions on harvesting invasive blue catfish

February 6, 2025 — Lawmakers in the U.S. state of Virginia have introduced a bill to eliminate restrictions on harvesting of blue catfish, an invasive species that has devastated ecosystems in the Chesapeake Bay region.

Since their introduction to the Chesapeake Bay as a recreational fish in the late 1960s, predatory blue catfish have come to dominate waters in Virginia and neighboring Maryland.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

VIRGINIA: Halftime at the General Assembly: Here’s the environmental legislation that made it through so far

February 6, 2025 — Proposals approved so far touch on topics including “virtual power plants,” data centers and environmental justice.

Virginia lawmakers are quickly moving through this year’s General Assembly session.

Tuesday marked “crossover” day, meaning all bills that made it through the House of Delegates are now sent to the Senate, and vice versa.

Dozens of proposed bills impact the future of the Commonwealth’s climate, environment and energy policy. Here’s a (non-exhaustive) look at where they stand.

Read the full article at WHRO

VIRGINIA: Dominion says cost of Virginia Beach wind farm is up and customers will pay more

February 5, 2025 — The utility said the increase of nearly $1 billion is tied to higher costs of required upgrades to the electric grid and onshore electrical infrastructure.

The cost of building the nation’s largest offshore wind farm off the Virginia Beach coast has jumped by nearly 10% since the original budget, Dominion Energy announced this week.

The utility now plans to spend $10.7 billion on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, up from $9.8 billion in 2021.

Dominion said in a news release the increase is tied to higher costs from building electrical interconnection onshore, as well as network upgrades assigned by the regional electric grid operator.

That operator, PJM Interconnection, coordinates the movement of electricity in 13 states, including Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

“New electric generation resources constructed within PJM, like CVOW, are assigned costs by PJM that are deemed necessary to effectively integrate these resources and ensure the reliability and stability of the electric grid,” Dominion said in this week’s statement.

Read the full article at WHRO

VIRGINIA: Cost of Virginia Beach wind farm jumps almost $1 billion, with increase passed onto customers

February 4, 2025 — The estimated cost of Dominion Energy’s 2.6-gigawatt Virginia Beach offshore wind farm has increased about 9%, which will mean a 43-cent increase on an average monthly residential power bill.

In a Monday announcement, Dominion said the total cost estimate of its wind farm had increased from $9.8 billion to $10.7 billion. The cost increase is due to higher network upgrade costs assigned by PJM, the regional electric grid operator, as well as higher onshore electrical interconnection costs, according to the statement.

“Higher network upgrade cost estimates by PJM reflect the significant increase in demand growth that require incremental generation and transmission resources across the system,” Dominion said in the statement.

Read the full article at The Virginian-Pilot

VIRGINIA: Virginia Beach wind farm spared from Trump order, but future projects could be slowed, experts say

January 27, 2025 — President Donald Trump used his first day in office to slam the brakes on the renewable energy industry, issuing an executive order to temporarily halt federal leasing, permitting and approval of both onshore and offshore wind energy projects.

But a Virginia Beach wind farm already under construction will be spared the immediate effects of the order, said environmental experts and Dominion Energy officials. Still, the experts say other Dominion projects could be delayed.

“It will have an effect on any future leases,” said Eileen Woll, offshore energy program director for the Sierra Club’s Virginia chapter.

Under the Monday executive order, the Trump administration will pause all offshore wind leases in federal waters, in addition to halting permitting and approvals for any wind project, both offshore or onshore. The order notes that, “Nothing in this withdrawal affects rights under existing leases in the withdrawn areas.” That includes the 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which began construction off the coast of Virginia Beach last year.

Read the full article at The Daily Progress

VIRGINIA: What does Trump’s pause on offshore wind mean for Virginia?

January 23, 2025 — One of President Trump’s first executive orders halted all new federal leases and permits for offshore wind projects.

Hampton Roads has bet big on the offshore wind industry.

Dominion Energy is building the nation’s largest offshore wind farm 27 miles off the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, and has two more leases waiting in the wings.

Local economic development officials have also worked hard to attract related businesses to make southeastern Virginia an offshore wind hub, including a South Korean manufacturer of undersea electrical cables.

President Donald Trump’s administration now threatens to put up a roadblock to further growing Virginia’s industry.

“We are going to have a policy where no windmills are being built,” Trump said recently.

On his first day in office this week, Trump signed an executive order that temporarily halts all new federal leases and permits for wind energy.

Read the full article at WHRO

VIRGINIA: Dominion says offshore wind farm moving forward, despite executive order

January 22, 2025 — President Donald Trump started his second term Monday with a flurry of executive orders, including one that temporarily ceases all federal wind leases under consideration and calls for an “immediate review” of the policies before resuming.

So, what does that mean for Virginia and Dominion Power, which is midway through constructing its $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind farm off the coast of Virginia Beach and has purchased two other wind farm leases in the Atlantic Ocean?

The Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility said in a statement Tuesday that it is “confident CVOW will be completed on time, and that Virginia’s clean energy transition will continue with bipartisan support for many years to come.”

Read the full article at Virginia Business