Abby Hopper, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, says public interest in oil and gas leases in North Carolina is second behind only Alaska.
John Downey
Senior Staff Writer- Charlotte Business Journal
As many as three offshore wind-power lease sites will be approved for North Carolina next year, Abby Hopper, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, told a conference in Raleigh on Tuesday.
But she says most of the offshore interest in North Carolina has been generated by the possibility of an offshore oil and gas lease by 2021.
“North Carolina is coming second behind Alaska in public-interest leases,” she says.
Hopper was the keynote speaker for the 2015 State Energy Conference hosted by N.C. State University and its N.C. Clean Energy Center at the McKimmon Center. In her address and in an interview afterward, she talked about offshore development for the United States and brought it down to development in North Carolina.
She noted her agency has proposed a 50-mile limit for how close oil and gas leases could be to the shore along the East Coast. That has been controversial, with some finding it too close and some industry representatives saying that limit would be too restrictive.
On oil and gas, Hopper says, the response at public hearings in North Carolina has largely been against development of offshore leases.
Some local governments have also asked the bureau not to consider leases near their communities.
But she says many communities have supported leases for the economic development they may bring. And she noted the state — and N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory, in particular — strongly supports leasing and oil and gas exploration off the coast.
Offshore wind leases, which are likely to happen much earlier, have attracted less attention, she says. And again, the response in the state is divided.
Wind leases have generated opposition from people worried about the impact on the environment. And another concern has been the impact on aesthetics and the popularity of tourism on the coast.
Still, she says North Carolina is well down the road on the leasing process. Three sites are under consideration: a 122,405-acre site 27 miles off the coast near Kill Devil Hills and Manteo, a 51,595-acre site 10 miles from Oak Island and a 133,590-acre site 15 miles from Bald Head Island.
North Carolina can expect decisions on all three next year, she says.
More here.
John Downey covers the energy industry and public companies for the Charlotte Business Journal.
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