Foley Hoag LLP advised the State of Delaware and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) in agreements with US Wind to provide renewable energy credits, community benefits and lease payments to the State and its residents. These agreements, worth more than $128 million, were finalized about a year after the initial announcements of negotiations. 
 
The finalized deals include an agreement with DNREC’s State Energy Office to provide 150,000 renewable energy credits (RECs) each year associated with the wind generation. These credits will be transferred to Delaware utilities to help them meet clean energy requirements. The RECs have an estimated value of $76 million over the life of the projects.
 
US Wind will also fund coastal waterway dredging, clean energy workforce training, environmental scholarships, and resiliency and capital projects at state parks. The community benefits agreement is valued at about $40 million over 20 years. The agreements also include a lease with Delaware State Parks for underground access for power transmission cables at Delaware Seashore State Parks. Lease payments from US Wind will total $12 million over the first 25 years alone. 
 
These agreements enable what is expected to be among the first offshore wind projects in operation in the mid-Atlantic. They will generate renewable energy and allow US Wind to lower electricity costs and increase electricity reliability for Delaware ratepayers by up to $253 million over 20 years. 
 
The State of Delaware announced the agreements on January 6, 2025. 
 
Foley Hoag attorneys Noah Shaw and Peter Ross advised the State of Delaware on these agreements.