States looking to upgrade their grid to accept offshore wind power should look for secondary benefits to lure support, speakers said at the International Partnering Forum 25 conference.

The sudden halt of the offshore wind sector has left states holding high-investment wind ports that for a while at least won’t be needed, raising questions about how states can use the pricey assets.

Offshore wind advocates are closely monitoring and vigorously lobbying Congress to assess and shape potential changes to the Inflation Reduction Act and its budget.

Conference attendees are optimistic that the rapidly rising demand for energy will mean the federal government eventually will have to harness wind power.

Clean energy policies and their impact on rising utility rates are under scrutiny in New Jersey’s most competitive gubernatorial race in years as voters decide on a replacement for Democrat Phil Murphy, a champion of green energy.

New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities backed measures to keep on track one of its three remaining offshore wind projects and retool a large-scale solar incentive program.

Updates on energy development efforts off the New York coastline did not gloss over President Donald Trump’s war on wind turbines but did not focus on it, either.