Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey. 2014 has become a turning point for the U.S. offshore wind energy industry. With projects in advanced stages of development, lease auctions in several states, and additional government funding for advanced technology demonstration projects, the U.S. offshore wind energy industry is picking up speed and momentum. The United States has a vast offshore wind energy resource and in early 2011, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled a coordinated strategic plan to achieve the deployment of 10 GW of offshore wind power capacity by 2020 and 54 GW by 2030. State and federal processes for developing offshore wind projects in the U.S. were well underway at the end of 2013, with 12 offshore wind projects in the proposal stage. These projects span 10 states off the east, west, Great Lakes and Texas coasts and represent over 5,000 MW of offshore development with turbine sizes ranging from 3.0 to 6.0 MW, along with a transmission project that could carry up to 7,000 MW. Join the AWEA to discuss the critical topics for offshore wind moving forward.