Secretary of Energy meets with Rhode Island leaders at Block Island Wind Farm

NEW SHOREHAM, R.I. (WLNE) — The U.S. Secretary of Energy visited Rhode Island on Friday to see the nation’s first working offshore wind farm.

Jennifer Granholm spoke on the success of the project on Block Island, joined by Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, Rep. Seth Magaziner, Gov. Dan McKee, and Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm is seen with Gov. Dan McKee and some of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation touring the windmills off of Block Island, Friday, June 2, 2023. (WLNE)

“We want to replicate this even bigger all up and down the Atlantic seaport, in the Pacific, in the Gulf of Mexico and in the great lakes,” said Granholm. “This has really shown other states that they can do this.”

Friday was Granholm’s second trip to the Ocean State. She anticipates the growing wind farm industry could create roughly 90,000 along the East Coast.

This a photo of a windmill off of Block Island, Friday, June 2, 2023. (WLNE)

She addressed how the Biden-Harris administration set aside more than $500 million for clean-energy investments in Rhode Island, and how the funding is projected to open up a lot of good-paying jobs for residents.