US BOEM Announces North Carolina Offshore Wind Auction

On March 25, 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it will hold a competitive auction for two lease areas (totaling roughly 110,091 acres) in the Carolina Long Bay area, which is off the coast of North Carolina. The auction will take place on May 11, 2022, and is estimated to last one to two business days. Based on comments received on the November 1, 2021, Proposed Sale Notice, BOEM will be implementing a new auction format, it modified the area to be leased, and it added and modified the lease stipulations. This Legal Update further discusses these developments.