First New York offshore wind farm up and running

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) heralded the launch of New York state’s first offshore wind farm Thursday.

“[I]n just a few minutes, we’ll officially bring the turbines online,” Hochul said Thursday on Long Island, adding it will have “national ramifications.”

“But I know, no one will ever forget the community behind this, the communities that stood up and said, ‘We can get this done, we can get this done.’”

The South Fork Wind offshore wind farm is also the country’s “first commercial-scale wind farm,” according to its website. It is 35 miles east of Montauk Point, and New York first broke ground on the project in 2022.

Hochul said 70,000 homes will be powered by the 12 turbines, and it will result in the elimination of 60,000 cars’ worth of emissions. 

“[I]t is impossible to overstate how transformative the South Fork Wind project is,” Hochul said.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland also celebrated the turning on of the turbines with Hochul on Thursday.

“We know that a thriving offshore wind industry will drive economic opportunity up and down the Atlantic coast, in the Gulf of Mexico and in Pacific waters,” Haaland said.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the account for South Fork commemorated “a new era for American energy.”

“All 12 turbines at #SouthForkWind are now complete,” the post said.

In October, the Biden administration approved what is expected to be the nation’s largest offshore wind farm yet off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va.

The Interior Department anticipates the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project to power about 900,000 homes, while the company that owns the project, Dominion Energy, estimated it to power 660,000 homes.