Governor Cuomo recently announced the selection of two offshore wind firm bids to build 1,700 megawatts of wind power off the coastline of NY. This is a good start to reach NY State’s goal of building 9,000 megawatts of wind power capacity by 2035. And more importantly, the work will uphold local area labor standards by requiring a Project Labor Agreement.
The two announced projects are large enough to power 1 million homes, with Danish power company Ørsted and northeast utility owner Eversource building an 880-megawatt wind project called 'Sunrise Wind' and Norwegian energy company Equinor building an 816-megawatt project called 'Empire Wind'. The two projects will create 1,600 union jobs.
Local 3’s Training Center in LIC has hosted many of the companies and agencies involved in the Offshore Wind Industry and these projects specifically. This is a new and exciting work opportunity for our members and will have a long-term positive impact on addressing climate change.
