Vice-President Joe Biden, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) today visited the University of Delaware, where they underscored the importance of alternative energy development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), especially offshore wind resources for Delaware and other Atlantic coastal states. On Earth Day, President Obama announced that Interior had finalized a long-awaited framework for renewable energy production on the OCS.

Delaware and other Atlantic coast states encourage and support the development of offshore wind energy. The Delaware legislature now requires that 20% of the Delaware’s electricity come from renewable sources by the year 2019 and Delmarva Power has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Bluewater Wind to sell the utility up to 200 megawatts of power from an offshore wind facility on the OCS.