and welcome to what's today the April
meeting of valda uh thank you so much
first to Chris and the Port Authority
for hosting us uh here at this nice
facility so why don't we start
um with a quick round of introductions
so I'm will fidoo with the Virginia
Maritime Association
and good morning everyone Chris
gullickson with the Virginia Port
Authority
Brian Stevens Hampton Roads chamber
Ashley McCloud
Renewables
the government
Howard schafferman Haswell group
Eileen wool Sierra Club
Brian Welsh Virginia energy
Virginia energy nice excellent and our
guests in the room
is Alliance
um
excellent and online I'm going to call
out the names just to make it easier
starting with Laura
Laura McKay Virginia CCM program
thank you Kathy
Kathy Owens Beach Development Group okay
Zach
Zach will Master with a Gentry law
Consulting you thought
yeah Todd janeski Virginia Commonwealth
University a contractor to both Virginia
czm and Virginia Marine Resources
Commission
okay thank you and what's the last one
Sean
I can't read it it disappeared so
disappear okay wrong number art is a
reminder to everyone the um this meeting
is recorded
before we get going we need to vote on
Virtual participation as per our bylaws
so Jim one of our board members he is
has an excused absence today due to a
conflict out of town but we also have
two members online Laura McKay and Kathy
Owen who are joining us remotely as per
the bylaws they have
requested permission to attend remotely
uh one Laura McKay has a scheduling
conflict up in Richmond and Kathy Owen
is also on a business trip out in
another part of the country so I've
approved those
um those excuses are not excuses but you
know explanations let's call information
right so therefore the light work but we
need to vote in order to allow them of
course to participate virtually so
um can I get a motion okay seconded back
a second thank you all in favor of
allowing your virtual participation say
aye
aye any opposed
okay perfect it is approved that Laura
and Kathy can participate remotely and
move out of meetings pal did I miss
anything okay sir okay so next thing on
the agile on the agenda I'd like to get
a motion to approve the previous
meetings minutes
thank you can I get a second
second thank you all in favor of
approving the minutes from the previous
meeting
any opposed
okay the minutes are approved from the
previous meeting
okay what we were going to do today I
really wanted to focus on
um two main things and and we'll flip
the agenda a little bit
so we've talked the last few meetings
about you know we've nailed down our
annual report from 2022 and then we
began work on our 2023 work plan and
thanks uh to a lot of the hard work of
the team here I think we came up with a
with a pretty good way ahead as far as
some action items based on the 2022
report recommendations uh for vowda to
attempt to execute in 2023. so I really
wanted to make sure we were all on the
same page there last meeting we
identified some key objectives and I
think there was six of them that we came
up with or six action items and we
talked about breaking them into
different buckets and the different team
members that would volunteer to lead
those efforts
that being said I know recently the
governor's office created a Governor's
offshore wind coordination team
which has its own uh internal purposes
for how to coordinate for Virginia and
how to best win in the offshore wind
space so we've had some dialogue Al and
I and also uh deputy secretary Chelsea
Jenkins and I about what that group is a
compound will function and operate and
at the end of the day what's important
to this group is how vaada will be
complementary and how the two groups
kind of work together in different ways
so we are going to have a presentation
on that
um it might be a few minutes I'm waiting
for one of our guests to join us to talk
through that
um
Al is there anything you want to touch
on I mean I don't want to dive into it
yet but as or do we want to save it I
think we should save it because we'll
hear something directly from the
governor's office somebody in the
Secretariat okay sounds good
so what I'll do is I'm going to flip the
two items and really focus on the way
ahead and I wanted to dedicate the
majority of our meeting today uh to that
so that
um we my goal is that we leave this
meeting as valda with a clear idea of
what we're trying to accomplish and and
who's going to take the lead and who's
going to help each other
um we did go round and round as you
recall with the attorney general office
and and how we were to conduct working
groups meetings Etc I'm not going to
belabor that but long story short we
looked at a lot of Alternatives and
essentially the way they prescribed it
before with public meetings and notices
that's the way it's it's going to be so
be it we're going to make it work
um and we're still figuring out then how
the working groups here are going to
work with this um Governor's offshore
wind coordination team but also some
elements uh that you know Kathy Owens
gonna share with us in a second of how
she approached
um one of the action items uh which I
really liked was essentially a sole
contributor
um Kathy did a lot of fantastic work uh
as about a member going out and getting
some feedback to bring recommendations
back to this board so I think that's
probably going to wind up to be another
useful tool on how we can work through
our items so what I'm going to do is I
really want to First just refresh
everyone this is in your packet what we
talked about back in November of the
different
um work plan items if you will
um so the first one
which is continue to support the current
C Val project and Kitty Hawk projects
and other future projects through public
meetings comments on Boom documents and
reports facilitating resolution of
potential use conflicts and working
towards meeting the offshore win goals
for the clean economy act okay
um Ashley is going to brief out a great
opportunity closer to the end of the
meeting on how we can support that a
great example but that is kind of an
ongoing item that we all continue to do
um
so that one's not a heavy lift
item number two which is uh I call
support supply chain so the first one I
called support projects okay second one
support the supply chain so continue to
work with all the stakeholders to create
a regional supply chain for C Val and
Kitty Hawk and other projects working
with you know the different developers
as well as their contractors
um you know Seamus gamessa bdp Port
Authority VMA other manufacturers Etc to
promote Virginia companies as part of
the supply chain for offshore wind okay
so again that's that is something that
Chris and Brian discussed spearheading
and the great news is a lot of this work
is already being done so work between uh
the VMA the alliance the Port Authority
the business Network we're offer wins
right the chamber Etc there's lots of
groups already doing this work and so
for us it's kind of just keeping an eye
and making sure that it's it's a
that we're really maximizing on that
potential
third one I'll call support r d and
Kathy's the lead on this one and she's
going to give a presentation on this uh
actively solicit research and
development opportunities and activities
to reduce the cost and risk of
developing wind resources in the supply
chain including leveraging the C valve
project and um and other uses of the
Virginia Energy Research lease and
conformance with existing agreements
and I'll let you read the rest about
working with different colleges and
universities so we'll come back to that
because Kathy has a good presentation on
that so again support for r d
action item four if you will I call this
support ppas now this is going to be one
that
is going to need some some effort
um so continue to work with and to
identify possible power optic agreements
in the Commonwealth and elsewhere such
as utilities military installations
large data companies uh with clean
energy commitments such as Amazon
Etc
so um Howard has volunteered to help
spearhead that one I'll make a short
comment that's consistent with other
things that we have communicated to the
administration to date is a a path to
Market has been repeatedly identified as
an inhibitor uh for developers coming
and and either setting up shop in this
area or bidding on projects and a lot of
that ties into how they're going to sell
Power whether that's going to be a PPA
agreement with the major utility or
connecting to the pjm market or or other
type of private
um ppas so
that is something just go ahead and
earmark that or uh you know just know
we're going to need to do some work
there
item five I call this one support jobs
so support Workforce Development create
more jobs in the Mid-Atlantic region
bring clean energy to the Tri-State grid
and bring positive benefits to
disadvantaged Coastal communities so
Eileen has volunteered to spearhead this
one
to make sure that of all the economic
development opportunities we're bringing
here and projects that we're also
correlating that with jobs and making
sure that those jobs are staying in the
Mid-Atlantic region as well
and finally the sixth item I call this
support more lease areas
without harm
what I mean here is
essentially a lot of the work that I do
for example at the trade Association in
partnership with others is ensuring that
as boem continues to or gets ready to
put out this uh next wave of wind energy
areas in q124 that those have all been
deconflicted with other users such as
DOD commercial Maritime uh NASA
operations Fisheries
Etc so that's pretty much also in a good
place I think this summer is when we're
supposed to see kind of that final
rendering of the wind energy areas
before they go out to auction
so that was a very brief summary
um I'll pause for a second if there's
just any questions before I turn it over
to Kathy
um where does floating offshore wind fit
in as far as just getting a handle on
the prospects of that coming and the
supply chain located in Virginia Beach
or in Hampton Roads sure a great
question I think it fits into all of
them because so far we're not
delineating between
um you know projects being or like you
know turbines being put in the sea floor
or floating so it's that would be split
amongst all those groups okay
good answer
okay
um so let me tell you I'm going to try
to tee up Kathy but then I'm going to
get out of her way
um
I think what Kathy's gonna present kind
of how she approached this action item
that she's leading will probably serve
as a really good suggested template or
way of tackling some of these other
items so Kathy volunteered to take on
the r d work a work item of basically
how to maximize those opportunities
really went out interviewed a lot of
experts came back with a plan did a SWAT
analysis and is prepared today to
basically say all right this is what I
did this is what I think we should do
um I thought that was a good approach
hopefully you all uh agree
um on how we can model us handling other
action items so Kathy I'd like to turn
it over to you if that's okay to give
your presentation
okay great is that going to be up on
your screen
um I don't know if we have that teed up
are you able to share screen
I think so let's see
all right how about that can you guys
see that
yep perfect yes okay
if you want to put it in presenter mode
it'll probably show up clear
here we go
okay again this is an overview it's just
a a sample of what
um what this could could look like and
and it's a very big overview a 60 000
foot view of this objective in action
um so it's more about the action because
the objective is written quite broadly
and so I'm focusing on the action and
then at the end you'll see you know one
of the recommendations is to possibly
update the wording of the action so uh
you know here's the the code of where
about a Falls now after 2021 where the
general assembly moved some things
around in code and this is where it
falls so
um under the charter for vowda
um this objective and action falls under
this first
um Charter Point of collecting Med ocean
and environmental data
not
there we go so so objective a is what
will has already read the action is um
so we we've we have objective a is again
being very broad broadly written the
action is a more
more defined and and in my opinion
constructive so it's actively solicit
research and development opportunities
activities to reduce the cost and risk
of developing wind resources and the
supply chain
so in that means
uh this was really you know set up when
valda was in 2010 and it served its
purpose then uh for sure but right now
you know I've looked at uh pulled that
apart seen what's what's been done kind
of since then and where we are today
with with that action and so the
strengths are of course the research
lease area
current approved and funded research
projects which are all under um Dominion
now they manage and take all of the
unsolicited research projects right now
future approved research projects that
which they have approved and those
entities are waiting awaiting funding
the recirc is a strength valid Charter
as a strength and and you'll see I have
the
nowrdc in all four squares because it
can be
um all for strength the weakness and
opportunity and a threat as well
um so I'm trying to move this thing
around there we go all right so
strengths and weaknesses are internal uh
when you look at a SWAT if somebody if
if some folks are not familiar with this
what strengths and weaknesses are
internal to the organization and
opportunities or threats are external so
the weaknesses of of this um Act of this
of action is there's constraints in the
lease agreement for collecting research
fees
between both dmme and boa and dominion
and dmme lack of published research
project and funding opportunities uh
lack of centralized location for
research requests solicitations and
opportunities lack of State funding
opportunities for research projects
constraints on the use of the turbines
for research projects because they are
already now in operation
unachieved research deliverables from a
dmme ODU mou which we'll go over in a
little bit unrealized benefits from
membership in the norw um already I'm
just going to call it the RDC
uh and no strategy acquired new lease
areas for Virginia
um so the opportunities uh there's quite
a few opportunities out there for this
action
the membership again in the RDC can be
an opportunity Federal funding programs
for offshore wind the DME ODU mou which
uh is still has not been terminated so
it has no uh the it's open-ended the
benefits of memberships to other
offshore wind research organizations
existing and underdeveloped collaborate
collaborative Public Access platforms
State offshore wind research funding
support collaboration with other
research organizations National policy
involvement and
can't get down to the bottom one
I can't do that with my screen so I've
got something else in the way and then
threats we've got uh again RDC could be
a threat and these other organizations
and programs in other states that offer
that are offering grants and funding for
their rate for research Massachusetts
clean energy center and their program
power us
uh their that program in New York New
Jersey uh these all these initiatives
and these other states uh that are
offering
um grants and other types of funding for
research and throughout their states and
then of course third-party developers
bidding a new lease areas off our own
Coast
oh there it is uh there we have new
Atlantic Coast lease areas that was the
other opportunity there we go all right
so summer summary bottom line up front
is the key result of this action is to
reduce the cost and risk of developing
wind resources and the supply chain
since the acquisition of the research
lease area was completed there has been
no activity regarding this action
primarily due to the lack of funding
available to carry out the scope of the
dmme ODU mou which charges at ODU with
developing and managing the activities
listed in this action so I do have a
copy of that mou and it basically
outlines most of the actions in in this
particular action under this objective
and also covers several other objective
actions
um in our in in the valid scope
um and it was uh
it's
yeah and I'll go over that next of where
where that is with that but in general
uh you know the valid Charter was
established in 2010 and it's complete in
it and it and as Al has mentioned it has
uh it served its purpose well by uh
providing the single largest contributor
to the lowering of the costs of the
risks and risks of development
um by helping the agency acquire the
first offshore Renewable Energy Research
lease awarded by boeem uh that was
solely the the actions of dmme in battle
working together since then
um dmme and ODU execute an mou
establishing a scope that carried out
again this objective and many more
objectives in our Charter
the funding including included in the
initial contract awarded under the mou
was insufficient though to complete the
entire scope of work and additional
funding was not received so therefore
the action has been dormant and Dominion
as the developer has self-funded a lot
of the research and surveys required for
their own permits and they are the only
one processing and managing all
solicited third-party research proposals
independently
so I've highlighted underneath here uh a
cut and paste out of the actual mou
where uh it it establishes ODU as the
principal investigator taking the lead
and responding to Offshore wind research
proposal solicitations and you know blah
blah blah you can kind of see the rest
of that
um
so summary of this uh is the permits
for the research area contain terms
required by boam which may or may not
affect some research projects and
funding of research projects and
reduction of costs
the Dominion energies test turbines were
have become operational now making it
more difficult to you know attach any
type of research to the turbines
themselves
the RDC was established in 2018 it
received funding initially from the
state of New York and from the
Department of energy Virginia was one of
the first members to it and committed a
million dollars towards this
organization which also entitled
Virginia to a seat on the board so far
they were awarded 30 about 31 million
dollars 16 of it has gone to the state
of New York uh and they're in companies
and research entities in New York
uh there's
fact sheets for every state it's showing
Virginia having received 5 million but
if you if you look at each of those they
uh very few of them are direct
um funds they are subcontracts under
other funding that mostly has come out
of the University of Maine
so it's kind of not trans it's not very
transparent when you look at the fact
sheets it kind of looks good on paper
when you but when you start digging into
the weeds a little bit you'll see that
there's many of the projects overlap so
some you know some of the funding that
shows is going to Virginia is actually
you know also going to other states so
that that's why I would consider this
RDC uh a threat uh an opportunity a
weakness and a strength
it all depends on on how Virginia
chooses to leverage their membership in
this organization or continue their
membership because now there's many many
more States now so you kind of have to
look at whether is there a is there a
finite pie of funding that now has to be
divided up between more members or is it
unlimited funding that we could leverage
our membership and and get more uh
positive outcomes for funding for
Virginia
another uh
oops wrong way
so another
there we go you need I need a better
assistant
um
uh and another uh interesting uh factoid
was once you know I started researching
other states uh other states that don't
even have projects yet actually are very
far ahead of Virginia as far as offering
different types of funding and promotion
of research within their states
um next the other existing collaborative
platforms and organizations that so that
this action doesn't necessarily have to
reinvent the wheel
um they there's there's some that
already exist that uh that could be
looked at as as potential collaborative
partners for this action
so the recommendations for this and and
this is just you know something uh that
that I've I've developed this is purely
for discussion for the group
um and and this is just what you know
from from my summary from my research uh
these are just some of the actions that
vaada could take uh instead of instead
of uh just uh supporting these these
would actually be actions that we would
take it as
showing that support when we put we
support this we support this these are
actions that we would take to support
and then determining out of which ones
of these would be uh something to to uh
to recommend as a budget item or
legislative action so revising the
objective actions by updating the
language and I think that would apply to
to probably all of all of our actions
for our objectives
um is is kind of updating them from
when they were written you know over a
decade ago uh for example change reduced
costs and risk of developing offshore
when two something more uh that this
this you see throughout the industry now
is reduce levelized costs of energy of
offshore wind while maximizing economic
and environmental benefits and that
include Innovation and our research
activities the activity this particular
activity focuses on environmental which
is important uh there's a lot of groups
out there doing environmental and my
recommendation would be to include
innovation in those research activities
as well
um next determine the types and topics
of research that are pertinent to Future
offshore wind development create and
prioritize those types research project
types and topics
establish a state Grant and funding
program for offshore when research
projects and when I say research it
includes data collection and other
activities which is what the objective
that's the that's the wording and the
objective
um next identify it at a point an entity
it's very similar to the mou that
appoints ODU as as kind of the
mothership for this it's uh and whether
it remains them whether that mou is used
as as continuing as a vehicle for that
or whether a new one uh is more
appropriate it's to identify in a point
an entity to establish a central and
publicly accessible location to promote
research and Project funding
opportunities accept and process all
research project requests
create research project solicitations
and manage research projects
next compile a list of the Boeing permit
constraints so that researchers can come
to this to this platform understand what
can and cannot be done in these lease
areas identify a free structure and
means of collection for fees in
accordance with the lease permittent
terms so they may not be able they may
be restricted as far as paying to use
something but there may be opportunities
of administrative fees that fall outside
of those terms that may end up you know
helping to decrease the cost of this of
this uh
the research lease area
next determine the value of future
membership in the RDC if it's maintained
leverage the membership to achieve
better research Project funding outcomes
for Virginia
join and leverage memberships and other
offshore wind organizations such as
Rosso Rhoda and the rwsc which is doing
a lot of
um
projects research promoting the same
thing that this activity calls for
next collaborate on research projects
and ensure alignment of the policies and
priorities with Virginia interests
utilize current and future data and
research findings to boost acquisition
of the new offshore and Lease areas for
Virginia and create an issue white paper
by June with recommended valid actions
staff actions budget items and
legislative actions
so those that this into the
recommendations uh there's there are my
sources and
that's it
pretty much
well Kathy thank you so much
um I thought that was pretty good and
what I'd like to do is just pause and
open it up for any questions from the
group
um for Kathy
I mean to be clear we're not voting on
anything today but this is like a good a
lot of information to digest right but
this is like an approach I think of like
um anyway I'll be quiet but
um yeah I just want some clarity as far
as what's research project the
definition of research project
um one research project that I would be
interested in is a gap analysis
Workforce Gap analysis as far as
official when jobs are involved so is
that an element of a research project
doors is limited to more the actual
construction of turbines and the
technology
that's a great question Eileen if you
look back at the objective it the
ejected it was written so broadly that
it would cover that
and again the action item I I would
recommend that it be written to to more
align with the objective because the
objective is written very broadly and
the objective actually uh
if I can let me go back to that uh
yeah
uh oh
[Laughter]
okay the objective is um
relevant data needed by stakeholders
and that would be data
it's very it's it's very very broad so I
think in any any type of research data
collection
uh studies would follow under this
any other questions
are you moving towards having um sort of
like a compilation of all the research
needs
whether or not it gets funded or or
materializes in any way but just
identifying all the research needs that
we might have
yeah I think that was one of the
recommendations is
um about up and maybe with uh help from
other stakeholders is listing
their priorities uh listening what kind
of research what kind of data what kind
of studies
are needed and then prioritize them and
then work with either the budget or
legislative action to create a funding
mechanism
this is an observation and thank you
Kathy for the presentation
um and and I think it's both the need
and then the current output and I think
you hit on something there with you know
um different outside parties utilizing
the research turbines to conduct studies
that maybe uh Virginia universities
aren't participating or are not involved
with and so
um that's actually a question that I was
asked yesterday and was sort of
flat-footed not being able to respond
directly on on what is underway and and
boy one advantage for Virginia to have
the two first you know to have research
turbines and our waters are off our
Coast
and not be capitalizing so I think it's
a very important thing to have in the
work plan an important objective and um
I think that is something when you look
at what an output could be from vowda
um being able to articulate and and to
show uh you know a pathway to some
research opportunities
um could be a valuable not just to ODU
but to other institutions here in
Virginia so just again observation the
money's out there and you hear the
headlines you see New York and nyserda
and and places north of here capturing a
lot of research dollars
um there's something here for us in
Virginia I think so
the research uh universities
are contacting Dominion directly and
dominions vetting those projects and and
approving them one other item that I put
in the recommendations is actually as
including Innovation as well uh
and I there's a couple of there are
opportunities available there's a stress
strain project a study going on right
now on the base of one of the turbines
that that that that was allowable uh
Dominion did allow that but again you
have to call Dominion and say what's
going on there and and they're they're
not actively soliciting soliciting
anything but if you go and look at some
of the other states Maine New Jersey New
York they're actively promoting research
in their within their states and they
don't even have a project yet so
um we are behind in that and that you
know one of the one of the items in the
action was to create a platform which we
which does not exist
Open Seas is uh
is is a possibility to collaborate with
for that
um
Ariel is something in development that's
a possibility to collaborate with
some of the Environmental Research is
already being done by
um rwdc and that that could be another
collaborative effort
uh not not you know just having a link
to that because they're already you know
doing a lot of the environmental and
oceanic studies and research
thanks Kathy
Laura you have a question
um well just to comment more
um I think it is kind of a question in
my mind
um
to what extent valdo wants to get
involved in the larger
ocean planning types of issues and
um yeah what kind of research does vow
to want to focus on because there is a
whole world of work going on
um with the environmental aspects and
General Ocean planning aspects
so it's kind of hard to figure out where
Vada wants to set boundaries around that
but I would say that the regional
Wildlife science collaborative is an
organization that's relatively new but
they're developing
um quite an extensive
portfolio of research needs and gaps and
they are actually receiving millions of
dollars of funding very soon from some
developers to carry out that research
and so Virginia needs to stay plugged
into that
um
I am involved with that but you know one
person in Virginia is not enough
um and then there's also a parallel
organization Rosa the regional offshore
science Alliance that's focusing on
offshore wind impacts to Fisheries the
other organization the wildlife science
collaborative is is all the other
wildlife in the ocean and looking at
research needs in terms of potential
impacts from offshore wind to those or
those animals
so
you know it what would be great is um if
I mean we don't want to recreate those
Wheels in bowdo but
um maybe there needs to be a stronger
connection between vaada
and Rosa and the rwsc
so that so that we in vowda
um you know are understanding what those
research needs are and um and also
getting our Virginia specific uh needs
raised to those organizations
um
and I think I mean that's that's a lot
of work and um I think as you all know
I'm going to be retiring July 20th
um you'll have more time to do this
yeah I might I might need to volunteer
to help out some
um but yeah there's a lot going on and
of course the Marcos ocean data portal
um I hope everyone is aware of that and
using it I know a lot of you are but
um
um Kathy Owen I don't know if you're
familiar with that but
um that's a place where there is just a
ton of information about
um offshore wind all of the lease areas
and everything are on there all of the
AIS shipping data are on there
um all the Marine Wildlife information
is on there
um other other human uses so
um and some of you know too I've been
struggling to develop a Virginia ocean
plan
and trying to figure out you know do we
have high level support in Virginia for
go moving forward with that but that's a
whole other topic so I'll just stop
there thank you it's really a rich area
for conversation
Ashley did you have a quick comment I I
have a question that's a question
um and so Kathy mentioned some dollars
here she mentioned five million dollars
that have gone into the budget is that
supervised by the department of energy
who is and and the comment was made that
Dominion is the one vetting these
research projects is that accurate or is
it dmme or Virginia energy
sorry Department of energy
first okay I think you're referring to
Kathy's comments that
on the now RDC website it shows that
there are five million dollars
that are somehow associated with
Virginia correct correct yeah and
clarify that for us well I can clarify
to some extent Kathy's right that the
website is not really clear
but what I think they now RDC has tried
to do
um is make sure that every state gets
back at least the funding they put in
Virginia has exceeded that because we
committed to one million we've so far
provided 600 000.
and one Virginia Tech project
um is over a million
an award from the now RDC
I don't know about those pieces of the
other
or
3.8 or 9 million
um I don't know how or whether Virginia
is involved specifically meaning there's
an institution in Virginia
that's
doing part of the research and getting
part of the funding or is it simply that
it's the benefit to the state in
particular because of the nature of our
projects so who is Virginia's
representative to now RDC uh it will
become me it was it was our agency head
um and I think they'll become our new
agents again but in the interim I was
designated as the in order to support us
that to consider new projects yeah this
year and then back to the question so
we've only basically we only got the one
Virginia Tech research thing is against
proposals come in to us
to Dominion week probably forward
at least half of the ones we've received
two Dominion because they request
use of the pilot turbines so they want
to put something on the towel or in the
tower
or they want to mount
um a piece of a sensor a light owner or
right we you know
are on the actual terms
and so
that has to be approved obviously by
the owner of the project
um the test turbines are they owned by
Dominion are they owned by the state of
Virginia
the lease area is so the purlins were
owned by Dominion the least they're okay
okay so the lease area is owned by
Virginia then the turbines that's we
clarify that that's I think it's
reasonable to ask that at least the
ocean bottom in that area for the
purpose of testing and Dominion owns the
towers that are in that lease area right
they were they own and operate them okay
they're designated operator under the
lease police has to have investigated
operator it could have been us but
obviously we didn't have the resources
to build too so expect a lot tournaments
so we designated Dominion as the lease
operator the lease was intended to
enable the construction of those
tournaments otherwise that would have
been very difficult if not impossible
um you know Rhode Island did it but it
wasn't in federal
promoters yeah so that was the the
main objectives of that lease okay was
to enable the construction
of the two Targets and you know there's
a long thread of what influenced over
the past 15 years
the direction of research
by dmme everything formerly now in
agency and the agency formerly known as
demons energy and others involved in
research it has typically followed three
things
um Federal money
and or in the early years of the
about them and which is the early years
of the offshore wind industry in
Virginia
um
it was all about the federal money
and the federal money initially was
going to be to create
wind centers
and so we've applied for
two research leases and then research
Elite one research lease two
um with that end in mind that we were
trying to create a basically an ocean
bed
research facility where Virginia could
bring its universities together and
other exports and get this Federal
funding well the U.S department of
energy
completely switched gears
while we were in the process of
submitting both lease applications
through the very lengthy Mobile review
process
to Corbin technology instead so they
issued a huge amount of funding called
the offshore wind technology advancement
project and
Dominion quickly applied for that
funding and name their project after the
federal programs namesake
um the Virginia offshore wind technology
advancement project BowTech
so we switched gears on the two leases
at least two became a high priority
and that's the one that's there now
where the turbines are the sliver of
Outlet boss correctly on the on the
western edge of the commercial window
into here again
so that we would be positioned
to get that Federal money and that
worked
um I can't remember it was 40 million or
50 million
you remember Jennifer's foreign
Dominion was able to get about
two-thirds of that
I recall
um then doe unplugged
um and said we're running out of time
we're going to stop funding projects
that can
commit to installation by x-bay Dominion
couldn't do that because SEC approval
was required all right okay so and then
move on
thank you I'm going to cause a pause on
all this thank you very much so Kathy
fantastic
um Kathy and I are pretty like-minded I
know a lot of people in the room too of
this is the kind of stuff we should be
doing as far as looking for actionable
things for us to do because quite
frankly everyone in this room knows
what's going on an offshore wind
um so when I think about updates and
high fives we don't need that in this
committee we need we need actionable
items and I think Kathy's done a great
job kind of showing the way so I'm going
to pause this agenda item for the
interest of time because we do have our
next speaker here deputy secretary Jen
Wall is going to talk through really
explaining to us now the the purpose of
the governor's offshore wind
coordination team and how that's going
to be complementary to vauda I mean I
know she has a hard stop as well
and Kathy you're still staring your
screen if you want to pull that down
thank you so Jen thanks for joining us I
understand you have a hard stop so I
want to be respectful of your time and
turn it over to you absolutely thank you
everyone
appreciate it it's good to see so many I
think familiar faces and names and so
many members of of our team on here as
well thank you for letting me join a
little late and then obviously leave a
little bit early I I appreciate the
flexibility
um so so thank you again for that
um for those of you who don't know me as
they as I mentioned
um Jennifer Jen whenever you all would
like to call me deputy secretary of
natural and historic resources
um wanted to give you all a very quick
kind of update as to how we are working
um amongst ourselves in the
administration and then with outside
stakeholders
um I know we have worked very closely
with all of our agencies as you all know
we have many of our agencies are on
represented today on this um on this
Zoom we work together obviously within
our agencies but as you all know this
cross-cuts uh you know among multiple
secretariats and the main Secretariat
says you all know that um have been
involved in this process or obviously
the secretary that I work within the
natural and historic Resources Group as
well as Commerce and trade as well as
Finance so one of the things that we all
have been doing is we have obviously
internal meetings within our agencies
but then we also have monthly meetings
that we all have been hosting and that
as I said before kind of cross cuts
um among the multiple secretariats so
you will have folks from whether it's
energy DEQ
vmrc most of our most of our agencies
um and what we do is obviously we have
multiple meetings throughout the month
kind of within our agencies and within
our secretariats and with outside
stakeholders and then we come back
together for our monthly meetings
um to kind of share share our
information compare notes make sure
we're all kind of moving forward in the
right direction and compiling kind of
everything that we're hearing as we as
we move forward
um I think one of the things that has
been so great about our ability to
collaborate is you know the the ability
for us to work across the different
secretariats and have everybody kind of
you know sharing the information you
know for instance I can see you can see
Todd on here and and Laura and multiple
you know our multiple agencies I think
Sharon as well was gonna maybe on here
um with DEQ and so you know we one of
the things I think that has been really
helpful in moving forward is all of our
willingness to make sure you know we
kind of make sure we're all on the same
page
um with those those monthly meetings and
we continue to you know hold ourselves
accountable as we as we move forward
um what I will do if it's okay with you
all is open it up to kind of any any
questions but just wanted to let you all
know that we're all you know
cross-cutting uh you know among the
different secretariats
thanks Jen so I do actually um I've had
some great chats with Al and Al's done a
great job trying to explain to me kind
of the the purpose because we have vouta
right and Virginia is very blessed that
we have lots of groups that have been
working on offshore wind for a long time
so a lot of the groups involved in here
individually as well as an unofficial
group you've heard of called the the
wind Avengers and then vouta as well
right so
lots of groups in Virginia already kind
of working on offshore wind and how do
we best position Virginia to win in the
offshore wind space in the central
Atlantic
um and then when I was talking to
Chelsea about this formation of of now
this coordination team I really wanted
you all to come and present today
basically how this new coordination team
was gonna augment supplement or vice
versa with vowda a formal entity and
others and how we can not recreate the
wheel or be redundant or step on each
other's toes but how do we best work
together to achieve the same goal
and I absolutely I think that's I think
that's a great question and we have I
think maybe the other deputy secretary
may have joined I think Chelsea may
actually be on so I'll let her jump in
um if she would if she has anything else
um that she would like to make sure that
we convey but I think to your point
um we want to make sure that we are
complimenting each other right as we
move forward to your point we do not
want to recreate the wheel we want to
make sure I think that we're all working
together and part of the monthly
meetings that we are um holding
internally is to make sure that you know
oftentimes you see a government one one
agency
um is going in One Direction You have
everybody's working hard within their
agencies and even within their
secretariats and I think that's one of
the things that we are trying to make
sure we're all talking together but I
think making sure we're all on the same
page within our our entity but more
importantly able to convey kind of the
same message and work with with you all
and complement everything that you all
are doing and I I say that because to
your point there are multiple entities
right we're all kind of working
um on the same issue but we want to make
sure that we're not to your point
recreating the wheel Reinventing the
wheel or you know even or being
Divergent right and what and what we're
doing even more importantly I think
um so I think the thought moving forward
is by making sure we're all kind of a
cohesive team if you will and I think
everyone has done a fantastic job
um within our within our group and I
would tip my hat to the deputy secretary
on that um Chelsea for making sure we're
all kind of on the same page I think the
thought is to make sure that we continue
to work with you all and all the other
entities obviously that you that you
mentioned as we move forward and perhaps
have maybe more um robust conversations
and more opportunities to discuss
together to make sure we all are
complementing each other as we move
forward
um I think the thought is now that we're
really meeting like I said very
regularly um every month meet with you
all as appropriate
um more often and make sure we're all
kind of you know rowing in the same
direction and I think I see Chelsea
Chelsea are you still there I don't know
if you want to add anything yeah good
good morning sorry I
um couldn't be there in person today I
was actually really excited about
joining you all in my hometown
um but yeah I didn't catch the very
beginning
um I I just hopped on I think when um
Deputy Wally started
um speaking but I yeah I think you know
you all know last year we were just
trying to kind of wrap our arms around
more generally from a you know more
macro view of
how are all of these generation assets
that are coming online or proposed going
to work together holistically to saw to
to serve the demand load curve that is
unlike anything else in the country
um I mean we keep hearing we are the
global tip of the sphere the uh the load
curve is actually terrifying and so you
know we were just kind of getting back
to the basics and then
um this year we started to kind of form
internal teams with agencies to tackle
some of the the challenges and
opportunities
um some of you are involved on you know
the nuclear leadership team we have and
we're launching a hydrogen team and
things like that but you all have been
doing great work you're the subject
matter experts
um to to Deputy Wally's point it's the
governor asked us to break down the
silos internally across secretariats and
across agencies and we've only had three
meetings
um once a month and it's really just
level setting and what we realized each
month is uh we don't we need more time
you know the one hour goes quick and I I
think I saw Laura on the list she can
attest um we get through maybe a tenth
of what we want to get through every
month
um so it's clear that there's a lot
going on and uh we need to kind of dig
in deeper and maybe even bifurcate and
and bring you all in so I think what
what we propose and well we chatted
about this that in Baltimore is the next
the next monthly meeting it's the second
Tuesday of the month is we think we
should meet in person and have a more of
a working meeting and have a few hours
together and I think it would be great
if um we have your team come and also
just educate the various secretariats on
all of the great work that you've been
doing
and uh you know ultimately we we don't
want we don't want the redundancy it's
it's
I think it's just agreeing on especially
for this year
um is is what are the key objectives
that we all agree we should focus on
together and start swimming in the same
direction and you know figure out who
the owners should be of the various
um uh you know work tasks and then
milestones and deliverables and and all
of that and and then there's going to be
all the things that you're doing that is
great and complementary but
um I I don't know that I don't I hope
the fear wasn't that the internal
working group was going to replace any
of the other activities going on that's
not at all what the purpose was I think
it was just to the earlier point of you
know the governor said hey offshore wind
is unique and then it touches basically
every Secretariat and so let's just get
our internal house in order and just
make sure that you know Secretary of
Cummings from a finance perspective
understands all the stuff in Commerce
and trade and all that stuff in um
historic and natural resources and that
we are the things that we're learning
out there from a Commerce and trade
perspective that we're sharing with the
other Secretariat so that as y'all you
know everyone goes about their their
world they have they're connecting more
dots and coming
um from a holistic whole government
approach so
um I think it will be next month we sh
if if you can I think it would be it's
going to be a great level setting and I
think there will be some decisions made
hopefully on very specific objectives
and deliverables for this year
perfect well thank you Chelsea uh and
and thank you Jen for coming as well
um I think that's that was important to
me to better understand and that this
group here understands
um you know how we can best support uh
this new group as well but I like the
idea
um I'll get together with our team and
talk about what coming up might look
like and maybe put together a tight
slide deck that talks about what
um the 20 the 2022 report look like
um what our work plan items for 2023 are
um and then also introducing you a
little better to the the subject matter
experts around the around the room here
and we can do that I think in a tight
cohesive way
um and then go from there really so it's
I'd like to take just a few minutes is
there any questions
because we tend to I just would make an
observation hey Chelsea it's Chris
um and and I just Echo by all means the
impression is to drive support the
development of a new industry here in
the Commonwealth that uh obviously is a
tremendous opportunity and also
supporting the Virginia energy plan and
so I definitely uh Chelsea hit on it I
mean I think secretary Cummins really
hit on it it's it's cultivating outcomes
here and and the administration helping
support and drive outcomes which I think
vaada really feeds in with the knowledge
that sits around this table and even the
objectives that are outlined in our work
plan to support what is going to be a
true win around offshore wind for the
com I mean that's that's not a cliche I
truly can tell you that the momentum is
there we all know that
um and the supports coming from the
administration to drive this forward
yeah yeah thanks Chris and and just one
thing that popped into my head that's an
example is
um you know and through the relationship
with you all we we were working through
economic growth framework
um that is kind of whole of government
uh you know working across all the
secretariats to make sure that the way
the EDP and the ritos and economic
developers are going about their um
their day is is we're all focused on the
same North Star
um but you know some of the data that
came back early
from McKenzie on the offshore wind
industry uh you know I was thinking
these are really low I'm not quite sure
that that that
this is in line with what I'm hearing
right and so I called some of you and
then as a result Hampton Roads Alliance
was able to
um develop another study that kind of
looked at realistically the Commonwealth
of Virginia knowing what we know today
what are the opportunities that we can
win and then more specifically to that
point that Chris made how can we support
you all and and the players and trying
to land these deals and grow
opportunities
um and investment and and jobs and
and you know that we have to have that
connectivity right it's it's we're just
trying to understand
how to support and help grow the
industry and I think you know with the
offshore wind amendments I'm I am so
grateful that we were able to kind of
get to the point you know and Eileen we
talked and and then had some calls and I
think the overwhelming support
um for for just signaling to the market
hey we're open for business right we
keep talking about we got to crawl
before we walk before we run and I think
often we kind of jump 10 steps ahead
right before we lay the foundation and
that's that's also what we're trying to
make sure is that we are creating the
business
um environment that that companies want
to
be in they want to expand and Thrive or
they want to come here for the first
time
um and that's really a lot of our Focus
Ellie did you have a quick question yeah
um thank you Chelsea um really admire
that coordination good the coordination
is really um especially for offshore
wind but we also talked about
coordination across Workforce
Development and and it's going to be
tricky for you all because offshore
Workforce Development is involved with
offshore wind as well so
um having those different coordination
teams put together and having them also
not only put those together to get them
better coordinated but then have them
coordinate amongst each other which um
uh you know I'm confident that you'll
pull it off
yeah thank you and and I really
appreciate your questions and concerns
when it comes to Workforce we're
thinking about it too and the other
thing that we want to make sure by the
way for the next monthly meeting
um second Tuesday in May is that we have
secretary Slater's team come and also
give everyone an overview of the new
um the transformation when it comes to
labor and Workforce and there's a lot of
really exciting
um things that are happening to to
support better outcomes because
ultimately we want to place these folks
into jobs that they really enjoy and
thrive in and so I think that'll be a
good discussion too
I have one simple question please make
sure that we can actually go to this
meeting on the 2nd of Tuesday as a group
well that's yeah that's what we're
talking about and you guys can resolve
that but just I'm
make sure that can is doable
okay thank you that's all
any uh
response to that
Al Chelsea
one thing one quick thing is um the
purposes the purpose and powers of vaada
have not been used to their full
potential and I think this collaboration
will be able to push it to another level
and and actually be able to use a lot of
the powers that were given to this
Authority by the general assembly
that is a really good point and you know
there's we're we're kind of in uh a more
opposite position when it comes to
nuclear where when we were looking right
we have an advantage here in Virginia
for lots of different reasons but then
we were looking at all the projects
being announced in the hundreds of
billions of dollars of investment
Virginia wasn't on the list at all and
so we kind of developed this capture
team that has you know economic bdp and
Virginia energy and a few secretariats
and then we have the Virginia nuclear
energy Consortium and external Partners
like you all right and they have been
immensely helpful
um is I can just go to someone
externally and say hey these are the
meetings that we need or who do we need
to connect with and then we it's just so
much more efficient and and groups like
yours you know better than we know and
so we need you we you are the partners
that we need for the connectivity and to
be able to get all this done and and and
you know we're going to be gone in a few
years and we want all of this to
continue
um and so I totally agree and it's
working really well with some of the
other leadership capture teams we've
developed and I think you know offshore
wind was was ahead of some of these
other areas that we're working on now to
catch up in and so um I think we're
honestly trying to catch up with you
versus the other way around in some of
these other areas
excellent well well Jen and Chelsea
thank you so much we can definitely
collaborate on setting something up if I
heard you right about having vow to come
up to the next meeting and and we can
communicate offline on you know how long
what do you guys want to know Etc and
then we can put together something uh
pretty tight uh to present to you all
um I do want to bring up two that's
important
um what Kathy mentioned is
if you actually go back and read through
kind of the origins of vowda and the
purposes and the authorities she's right
on we're we're severely underutilized
um but I think that's great opportunity
for us to grow
um and I do thank Al and Ken and Ryan
and the Virginia energy team for for
continuing to give vow to the same level
of service that it has previously even
with their new responsibilities with the
new coordination team
um so with that thank you uh felsea for
joining I understand Jen you have to go
you all are more than welcome to stick
around as we continue with the rest of
the presentation I also will throw out
this is worth knowing so after the next
meeting
where we baby the two groups get
together and coordinate so Chris with
his role at the at the Port Authority is
already part of these these coordination
teams
um with the cabinet so I also think in a
very efficient way Chris could be kind
of like valda's liaison since he's
participating in those meetings anyway
and then come back and and you know
brief back and forth so just save
everybody else some time
okay
all right so I want to move back to
where we were when we were discussing um
kind of Kathy's presentation what I'd
like to recommend is
um
so Kathy or just says Al you have this
you have the PowerPoint the most recent
edition if send that around to the team
um if you have any feedback any comments
questions and then the appropriate
feedback I think is either you know send
it to Kathy directly let's not do any
ccalls or anything like that
um and then so we can start to have that
dialogue because what I'd like to do
maybe as a vision moving forward is some
of the items that really need attention
because I'll be frank I think four of
these maybe three to four of these items
do not need detailed attention they're
they're already well underway maybe
worth a few minutes every meeting to
discuss but there's a few such as r d
that do need the deeper dive
um so we could set it up we're in future
meetings one of the topics that needs
attention gets a gets a thorough brief
similar to what Kathy modeled for us
today and then it sets up
q a further revision and then any
further action items that need vote
would then be teed up for the next
meeting
um
that being said let me thank Kathy again
for kind of being the tip of the spear
and showing us this new way for us to
actually have some some meaningful
action items
now I really wanted to have some open
discussion now that you've heard from
the governor's coordination team and
kind of what they're doing with offshore
wind we've heard Kathy's presentation on
the r d side
um
and how we're probably going to wind up
integrating in some way with this
coordination team
I want to open up the discussion to
these working groups
and any of the further action items in
our work plan that you think need
more attention
well I was uh reading the article it was
sent around by Lynn recently about the
opportunity for off takers being pretty
much you know the next Target would be I
assume Kitty Hawk because that's open
it's not already wired regulatorily and
so forth and is does that seem like in
an accurate picture that's really the
only near-term thing where we can run
around and say who are the big energy
users that are being
interested in the Commonwealth and going
from there to try and make sure they
understand that they have some very good
options to be using green power any
any thoughts on it did that article
correct in its general focus as being
that's where the opportunity is to link
future Virginia Economic Development
with offshore wind
yes
I mean that would
be Immaculate to me
so the the linkage there it seems like
in some ways is just between
valda and the economic development
partnership
within the state right
and what they know about the future
stream the pipeline so to speak of large
energy users that are intrigued by the
Commonwealth at the moment or so they
should be I mean vadp should be as as
well as others um and then the
developers themselves are going to be
already out talking to those people as
well so to your point Howard the conduit
of bringing everybody together the
connection that way is to um the
typically that is happening but I think
that it's
I I think probably part of what it is is
to make sure that we support and and
recognize that um the businesses that
are going to come here how would this is
an attractive and incentive as Virginia
if we know that we have a reliable
renewable energy then more businesses
are going to want to come and that's
what Chelsea and her whole team are
doing as well as part of that so I'm
just trying to isolate what is the
matter role right in all of that yeah I
think it's I think it's connecting to
where
most of the developers have communicated
to us that yes there's the opportunity
to connect to pjm you know to the
wholesale Market but no developer is
what I'm told is going to be able to
finance a project purely on pjm sales
sure so it really does center around
ppas right so Dominion in this case um
since they're the utility they're their
own provider right so they're buying
essentially their own power so their PPA
if you will with themselves so it's
helping
other projects that may develop in the
near future that need ppas and whether
that's with the utility or if it's with
a large private consumer so that these
projects can actually be financed right
so that is that's kind of the the nut to
crack and what that looks like from a
PPA standpoint
um same thing with it's and it's spelled
out in here whether it's large
commercial users large DOD installations
it's getting these developers the ppas
they need
um
that's where we are Eileen no way a
legislative expert but doesn't that
isn't there some kind of legislative
component that needs to happen as far as
um
having some you know not because we're a
regulated utility market so I think
there might be something in the law that
prevents
you know this outright purchased by a
third party to sell it directly
I don't understand that whole process
but I I think it needs to be explored
well then in the New England context
which is important I'm most familiar
with because that's correct who I
represented ISO New England
there were states that were basically
subsidizing the renewable energy
projects and and that create a general
mess in terms of how the market works in
the context of that because those were
subsidized can under bid
and is that in the long-term interest of
the energy diversity of the particular
region
uh so there's you know some interesting
questions like uh it's really which I
think is I think pointing to and you
know at a large to a large extent is you
know would Virginia subsidize well
that's it creates a lot of interesting
throw-off issues so Kathy did you have a
comment
did as far as the Outreach to uh you
know your military installations
um I I know that um yeah the military
actually came in the department their
their under Secretary of Energy came in
and
installed those solar panels on Oceana
which Oceanic can't even use that power
because of their uh their grid system
but uh would it would it be a
recommendation from vowda to have to
include your secretary of military and
Veterans Affairs to help without
Outreach to military installations for
their to be off takers
that I'll just jump in here um so Tom if
anyone knows Tom Krabs he's with
secretary crenshaw's team he's part of
our cross-coordination team and um he
will be there next month and so if we
want to put that on the list of topics
um and then back to the legislative
questions is
um we can also have the policy team talk
through I know the Amendments and the
and the um bills were confusing for many
that don't speak that language which not
many of us do but we can also work walk
through that and kind of how we see it
playing out in terms of the
competitiveness working group
yeah that's a great comment um so Tom
crabs former coastie good friend of mine
and and we're supposed to get together
next week and talk offshore wind so I'm
excited that he's still participating
and I think he'll be a a huge asset to
kind of explore that option
um but it's no secret like I said it's
it's lots of folks in the room know
um there's lots to always talk about
with
um building a supply chain and jobs and
all that's fantastic but it was no
different than when I did kind of the
same thing in the oil and gas World
which is you have to have off take
agreements we got to sell power right we
got to sell energy and that's at the end
of the day that has to happen that
Domino has to fall to get everything
else
um so I do think that there's a level of
effort that is needed now from you know
whether it's fauda and other entities we
need to sell more power or see more
power sold to drive project development
to drive the supply chain to drive jobs
I mean that's the Domino
um
you know both gas and electricity for
your military installations and every
two years the secretary commission's
study called how to keep and grow the
military mission in the Commonwealth of
Virginia I think this year they're
updating that study it's the Roosevelt
group and the Matrix Design Group come
in and do that they interview
stakeholders from your military
installations from businesses the
business Community from your
municipalities and come up with a report
and I think maybe it's important to talk
to Tom about
including this industry uh and Workforce
Development which which it was direct
you know directly
um tied to our transitioning veterans uh
to this report and get it included in
this report in some way
okay
so I'd offer kind of back to the
discussion on
um the way ahead for our work plan
and please disagree with me
to me like there's kind of three big
items for us to to that need some more
attention so Kathy's already spearheaded
r d so that's one you know ppas that's
clearly something that needs to happen
and then I'd probably offer uh Workforce
is one that just needs to be further
analyzed because I hear two stories I
hear
we're doing just fine and I hear we're
not okay so from different groups so I
think that needs to be ironed out so
where everybody gets on the same page of
whether there's a real Workforce crisis
or there's not so but I offer up for
discussion
what do you all think is is that the
right big three
because quite frankly site selection
project support supply chain I'm not
worried about because enough of that
work is already underway that it's in a
good place
my input towards Workforce is just is
the story being told well
um and are we doing a good job as a
state in
um cross-pollinating and making sure
that we're not being duplicative so is
one Educational Institute covering
something are they all covering the same
three things and we're missing this gap
of another type of training that needs
to be done so are we making sure that
college a or a for-profit entity are we
making sure everybody has all the
different stuff especially because
there's there's lots of money out there
for Grants to qualify for this so I mean
like so let's just use TCC just enter
and revealed their lab the other day
Chris and I were both there and it's
great so it'd be nice to know that
that's not being duplicated somewhere
else that we just have the ability to
within our own system cover everything
that's being done so that may be part of
that Gap analysis is just for the
training part of it I know we're worried
about making sure we have the workforce
they're getting trained but that's
making sure we have what we together as
a as a state to train them
yeah I'm just Echo I mean that's an
output that we can manage I think and
it's probably of tremendous value to the
entire Commonwealth because there is
some overlap and to Ashley's point you
know
um the some of the for-profit institutes
providing some training advice uh say a
TCC and what they announced uh this past
week pretty special and also reaching
into the high schools and and and and
even from you know I think Eileen
something that is uh you know I know of
interest and to all of us and something
you're directly involved with are some
of these you know Coastal underserved
communities and thinking about Pathways
to enter this offshore wind industry and
and I think what TCC is put forth for me
even the AHA is they have VR glasses
that they know there's a percentage of
folks who may be interested they may
even have aptitude but as soon as they
realize there's the risk having to climb
600 feet because they're gonna you know
that that's real right the elevator
doesn't work you got to get down I mean
that sounds silly but it isn't you know
and so TCC is really I think with help
from Virginia Beach been able to fund a
laboratory uh to provide some of that
initial screening and and and then
ultimately what becomes training
um there was the
um the Mid-Atlantic training Alliance
that we probably should have you know
what where is that going and are we
adding to that and how could we possibly
influence that as well because that was
my my point
um so ODU is having a maritime Symposium
yesterday and today and I was talking
with one of our members who's over there
that runs a training institution right
and we have the discussion where some of
my concerns sometimes is that we have
over capacity for training because you
have all these groups everyone and their
mom wants to stand up on offshore wind
training school and they all run out
there and they'll do it but then there's
a concern of how many bodies has the
industry actually going to need and then
so so what does that look like for butts
and seats from a training standpoint
however it was useful for me he shared
with me yes they have a training
institute you know for instance gwo
training but somehow by mandate he can
only put eight bodies in a class at a
time so he's capped at eight and then
it's a two-year life cycle on the
certificate right so that was useful to
say okay like there is I think even if
there's a bunch of training schools
there could be some some restraints so
what I'd like to do since this is
Eileen's favorite topic
Eileen since you're the lead on the
workforce piece thoughts on putting
together a deep dive similar to what
Kathy did kind of like okay here's the
ecosystem here's what's really out there
here's the real need like you said I
kind of a gap analysis absolutely and
Howard similarly if you're willing to do
that on the PPA side and that you
wouldn't be doing this alone if you need
support obviously we can bring in people
and and even I'll mention our public
guests here who are also smes in the
offshore wind space I think there's lots
of resources available to do that so
does that sound
I think I think the first step at least
on this PPA part is probably
participating in the next meeting of the
coordination themes okay just to find
out what's being done already and you
know in terms of who is at the tape who
needs to be at the table
for that to be successful
um so I think
back and Forum a base of the the Deep
dive I think you should start from there
before you just go off on your own yep
okay
just just to add to that
um all really great points is we can
make sure
um Eileen that we have Turner Widgeon
and will Arnie and then maybe even
someone from like Virginia Beach
Economic Development you know the tip of
the spear the folks that are talking
every day to these companies that are
overseas and are making decisions is it
would be really good to to understand
like what are their concerns
um when it comes to a Workforce
perspective
and other things is we really we want to
stay close to the industry and
um how they're making decisions
very good
any thoughts on that island just
timeline when were you thinking that
yeah I should say so I think
this kind of bleeds into I know we only
do four meetings a year I mean I don't
see anything in the bylaws it says we we
can't do more but it would kind of be
like teeing it up for presentations at
the next vowda meeting June I think
that's the next day well when when is
our next meeting I don't think it's June
the can question
July 13th July 13th
it'd be the rough timeline for maybe
brief outs on the um
PPA work item the workforce work item
similar to what Kathy did
if that sounds good yeah
um I would ask though
Brian any thoughts on anything
you're my one quiet guy today but yeah
I'll just take it from a Workforce
perspective and we've been talking to
Sean Avery and the workforce Council I
know that we I know that I know the
alliance in fact man I think there's a
form or something this afternoon with
the alliance correct yes to to to
discuss the workforce Gap analysis and
those type of things so I know there's a
lot of work being done with the
workforce Council
in this space it might be worth maybe
even bringing Sean in for an update on
where we are with the development of a
Workforce to address the offshore wind
industry and is it only Hampton Roads
Workforce council is other other
councils around the state doing it as
well as part of well yeah and I think
that Virginia that would feed into my
thought were similar to what Kathy did
where Kathy went and reached out to a
ton of different groups
Consolidated at all and presented so
that could also be an option where you
chat with the alliance you chat with
Workforce Council yeah pull it all
together yeah it's like my
life in Virginia Beach he's actually
works with um recruiting people to take
to new College Institute he veterans
specifically so there's a lot of people
doing this there are yeah
that's good stuff yeah yeah it's all
good stuff
um but the the essence of the problems
that I'm seeing so far are number one
coordination
understanding who's doing what and where
and then doing the Gap analysis for you
know what's not getting covered and then
the second one is there's a lot of great
programs and a lot of people doing a lot
of really great work but
um and this may be due to the lack of
coordination but everything needs
promotion it needs to be promoted
because you have these uh training
opportunities but if nobody finds out
about them
um they they need to be promoted so
coordination
coordination and promotion and I will
not take us down this Rabbit Hole too
far will I promise because you know I'm
putting on my education hat and I don't
believe that John Q public and generally
speaking the state the residents of
Virginia really understand offshore wind
and what it means and how it works we
have not done a good job of that as a
state and I can maybe say as a nation we
haven't
um but but and that so I spend a lot of
my time when I'm trying to share about
our project actually having to explain
offshore wind in general for them to
understand that part so lots of
different ways that we can be doing so
I'll drop it there leave the bone live
for now well then two it's energy it's
clean energy clean energy promoting you
know
combating climate change and its jobs
Economic Development those are the two
win-wins for why we want offshore win a
win-win
and I think it's student Brian I mean
obviously Sean Avery and the workforce
Council and Friends Workforce Council
our recipients of significant funding
right so you have all the but the
funding piece is critical too and so I I
don't know uh in great depth but my
inclination is there's a lot of good
news to come from The Hamptons Workforce
Council so it'd be a good time to to
plug them in and they can share about
what they're doing with that good job
challenge award around Maritime and
that's obviously the whole industry but
obviously wind plays a big part of that
so yeah
yes
that's good all right so this is what
I'm going to recommend
uh to keep kind of things rolling along
kept track of a few things so uh one
provide feedback to Kathy on some r d
items like I said do that reply to her
email directly and we'll make sure Al or
Al or Kathy feel free to share the most
updated PowerPoint with the team
um and then
Howard's gonna
we're gonna put him on the agenda for
next meeting
um
to give a brief out at least some
initial deep dive on PPA same thing with
Eileen and Workforce we also I got to
touch base with with Chelsea and the
Virginia energy team on what valda
participating in the next coordination
team meeting looks like
um
and then we'll do some sort of tight
presentation
does that sound good and I don't think
Al I don't think
any of this
violates the foia public meeting
concerns don't think
it don't want to crack that open though
okay
a question for Chelsea over that um over
our timeline
um Chelsea do you have anything to add
about our timeline and when maybe some
of our recommendations would that would
include budget items or legislative
actions would need to sync it to your
group to find sponsors and create the
correct language
that is the best question and I think we
are going to start the process in June
and so one of the things that many of
you know is that the governor and team
are extremely data driven Ryan was in a
briefing with him yesterday he can
attest to this I think that
um if if there are
recommendations for legislative changes
um budget you know the right the power
Innovation fund is a good example of
that essentially
um came to be because of data that the
Virginia nuclear energy Consortium board
came to us with because they had already
created essentially a strategic plan
across the entire ecosystem so if
it would be really great to start
talking about this stuff in June and
then continue refining kind of the the
information backing up the
recommendations
so maybe uh then we'll uh when I get the
you know get people's questions
recommendations everything I can
recompile some of the recommendations
prioritize them because you know some of
this is you know kind of low-hanging
fruit
um kind of easy actions for us maybe we
could uh you know like uh Eileen said is
is get some research topics and
prioritize them and maybe
um you know do that Gap analysis again
like uh it was I don't know was that you
Laura said and see where some of that
can be accomplished by our collaborative
partners and where maybe we would look
at a fund from the budget that valda
would manage or find another entity to
manage that
again just ideas of what something
fairly easy but it but a actionable item
to get completed by June
I agree and I think that's a good point
because um and even when you brought up
so Open Seas and aerial I mean they
compete for and receive grant funding
from various sources so again easy tools
kind of that already exist that we could
partner with give them something to do I
know Jerry's always looking for
something fun and interesting to do
solving sticky problems for all of those
who know him but I same thing with the
alliance you know Matt being the
director of water and energy technology
is that right close enough
um I think we have and that was my
earlier point about one of the things
that Advan that Virginia has a fantastic
advantage of is we have all kinds of
tools laying around right here and
groups right
um that can do great work we just need
to kind of harness that
same thing with legislative stuff I know
that that schedule is probably a little
later than June
um I will say well those who are
tracking the the governor's amendments
in the firm SB 1441 and HB 2444 they
were passed by by both the house and the
Senate so now the governor is 30 days
essentially to to veto or pass the
original bill as amended as it came out
of the the chambers so I think and this
will be my statement since this is a
public meeting
um I have heard I think there's plenty
of appetite to revisit this topic
uh next session
um
so I'll leave it there and I think
there's a lot of work to do on that on
that front
quick question Eileen yeah quick supply
chain to get an update on all the work
that you know because uh you have you
said that that you had that pretty well
covered but would love to just have a
brief update at every data meeting as to
where we are with okay yeah we can we
can figure that out because
um
what kind of what clarify my earlier
comment
I think we could do that a tight way but
we meet so infrequently that I want to
make sure that when we do meet we're
like really
doing stuff because I think most of us
including yourself are pretty locked in
with what's going on but maybe we can
try to refine where we're not locked in
and look for I'm not locked in on supply
chain that's all new for me Matt's gonna
handle that
um but we'll make sure we look for like
meaningful updates between I think the
times when we met last and the time
before
um
okay
any other comments on
our work plan
way ahead
questions or comments
okay hearing none
we don't have anyone signed up for
public comment so that's going to save
us a few minutes is there any other
business or closing remarks by board
members I know that Ashley had a quick
announcement she wanted to give yes sir
thank you
um just to bring everyone up just be
specifically on the Kitty Hawk Project
one of our next steps is actually to re
um we have the transmission Corridor
proposed and we have the rights of way
all of taken care of to go and get the
cables and Powers the power to our
substation and Corporate Landing in
Virginia Beach we have everything out in
the water now we have to do is plug the
two together and so the um the next step
for us is to get easements granted in
the a parking lot in Sandbridge that is
owned by the City of Virginia Beach and
so that is upcoming so on May the 4th
there is a community
um input briefing and input where my
team will go and present on our project
it is at 6 30 at the Virginia city
council and that will give us a chance
to update the public and receive more
input then hopefully from there we'll go
to an official public hearing by the
City of Virginia Beach where then they
will then have hopefully officially put
it onto the docket to be voted upon to
approve that Grant um those easements so
anyone who is willing to write a letter
or anything else to help support that
please let me know I'd be happy to help
coordinate that with you but that's the
next step to make sure that Virginia has
a second offshore wind project that can
bring the power sure bring new
Industries bring new companies
be great good stuff so thank you will
for that yeah thank you Ashley and I'll
let you all know that as a citizen of
Virginia Beach I will be commenting or
showing up to support the project
um because again that so I encourage if
if you happen to be a citizen of
Virginia Beach and you just want to wear
your citizen hat
um feel free to connect with with Ashley
as we tee up
um both in basically providing feedback
at the public meeting and then also the
city council meeting that would follow
and then there's a good team kind of
strategizing that
any other other business
comments
Al did mention um and I think it's worth
spending a minute or two talking about
ipf I thought was fantastic we always
have good reception every time we do
kind of the Virginia team
um I know Matt usually Bears the brunt
of coordinating all that so I do
appreciate Matt and his leadership in
that regard
um and I think we're going to have a hot
wash at some point I think Matt's
looking to schedule that where we can
get together and look over
yeah I believe Ryan had a questionnaired
yeah I'll be sending out a follow-up
question for me to filled out about what
worked but didn't what you saw that you
liked it other booths but you saw that
we should definitely avoid
we can do better for next year
but to be out soon can I just throw
something out there for maybe
um
if if we could even prepare this before
the net the May meeting
um and Chris we kind of talked about
this on the coordination call but the
event that Virginia Beach had before the
ipf conference was fantastic and
um not to mention right it helps our
tourism economy but if we talk wearing
my tourism hat but
um if we could be thoughtful about the
opportunity to host something like that
from a Commonwealth's perspective
and even you know bdp was involved with
Virginia Beach I it could be Virginia
Beach LED again but
um I thought that that was a a great
event and if if that's something that we
could be more holistic
um in thinking and strategic and maybe
you know make it an annual thing or I
don't know I mean you all know better
than I I I do but I think a lot of the
supply chain questions and the competing
to win questions
and Chris you might want to jump in here
so if I can secretary Jay because I'm
going to jump it's Ashley
um is back in 2021 or 2021
um the Hampton Roads Alliance actually
hosted a very similar thing here in the
whole region uh because the conference
was in Richmond so that has historically
been done and so um I but I I totally
agree with you that it would be great to
do it on a Statewide level so um just to
so you know it was a little bit bigger
in 21. just an FYI so but I I agree with
you yeah yeah I mean I think there's
some momentum there and and there's
intentionality where in fact if we're
working with all stakeholders and trying
to Target
certain supply chain I would say
opportunities that we know are in the
pipeline it could be even even if some
would off cycle
um these type of we'll call Red Carpet
Events are historically uh the VDP and
HRA have been you know participants in
funding and I think it would be
worthwhile especially we look at you
know some upcoming Milestones here in
Virginia especially and I'll put my
Virginia Port Authority hat on I mean
with PMT uh well under construction and
and and coming into some Milestones here
in the summer early fall uh you know
seeing monopodles on the deck at PMT
that's pretty special and and that's
what will happen and so you know that's
I think again showing the global
industry of offshore wind that Virginia
is serious and actually doing something
to support this Kathy and Howard and
Laura if you didn't know and I think
Eileen knew but um so the City of
Virginia Beach brought in a lot of the
Internationals they've been visiting and
they did it the weekend prior to the the
be now conference in Baltimore and so
that morning they had us all at tables I
was able to present on Kitty Hawk GT was
there to present on the C valve project
and we were able to have all those kind
of great meetings and there was a
reception that evening so but that's
just a quick doubt of dirty since you
weren't there let you know what's
happening thanks
yeah being that the next ipf is in New
Orleans so that might be a little bit of
a logistical challenge but if uh we'll
put powers that be want to spend the
money and do it let's see that trip is
about 20 hours we do a 20 hour bus ride
or um some cheap flights on right now
the chamber could have a stop in the
middle on the way that's true
[Laughter]
good stuff
okay New Orleans is actually our first
leadership exchange I do remember that
that's a good point yeah maybe that's
good all right so hearing no other
comments
my only closing remark I'll offer is um
I think this was very productive uh
meeting and hopefully you guys feel the
same way
um we've got some things to work on so
that we can continue to provide value as
we were chartered to do I thank you all
for participating in this and we can go
from there next meeting dates
I think we'd mentioned Ryan was July ish
2013 September 14th and December 7th
Okay cool
so thank you
yeah I know I think one of them we're
supposed to have in Richmond I think
that's the December annual meeting
um well I'm not going to say I'm
agnostic because I'm not
um I do just keep in mind I do keep in
mind the the the makeup of our board and
yes I will
not be shy that the majority of the
board is in the Hampton Roads region
um
so I would lean more in that direction
but I know that in the past we've gone
back and forth between Richmond and here
so
that's that we can sort that out later
okay but thank you again for doing this
calendar invites just to have them
already on our calendar it's really
super nice and I believe the
coordination call meeting is the ninth
May 9th yes the second it's the second
Thursday
yeah and I'm gonna actually ask my buddy
Chris is my vice chair if he can kind of
work on that so that we really getting
clear on on what do they want us to
present on how long do we have who do
they want to come up Etc side
okay
well hearing hearing nothing else thank
you to everybody online thank you uh
deputy secretary Jenkins for coming and
all our guests it's good to see Laura
and Kathy as well
and we will consider this meeting
adjourned thank
you thanks everyone
thank you