2024-19619. Pacific Wind Lease Sale 2 for Commercial Leasing for Wind Power Development on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore Oregon-Final Sale Notice

Company name	Company No.
Avangrid Renewables, LLC	15019
BlueFloat Energy Oregon, LLC	15160
OW North America Ventures, LLC	15133
US Mainstream Renewable Power Inc	15089
South Coast Energy Waters I, LLC	15198

a. Affiliated Entities: On the Bidder's Financial Form (BFF), discussed in Section III(a)(i) and Section IX below, eligible bidders must list any other eligible bidders with whom they are affiliated. For the purpose of identifying affiliated entities, a bidding entity is any individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, or joint venture (when established as a separate entity) that is participating in the same auction. BOEM considers bidding entities to be affiliated when:

i. They own or have common ownership of more than 50 percent of the voting securities, or instruments of ownership or other forms of ownership, of another bidding entity. Ownership of less than 10 percent of another bidding entity constitutes a presumption of non-control that BOEM may rebut.

ii. They own or have common ownership of between 10 and 50 percent of the voting securities or instruments of ownership, or other forms of ownership, of another bidding entity, and BOEM determines that there is control upon consideration of factors including the following:

a. The extent to which there are common officers or directors.

b. With respect to the voting securities, or instruments of ownership or other forms of ownership: The percentage of ownership or common ownership, the relative percentage of ownership or common ownership compared to the percentage(s) of ownership by other bidding entities, if a bidding entity is the greatest single owner, or if there is an opposing voting bloc of greater ownership.

c. Shared ownership, operation, or day-to-day management of a lease, grant, or facility, as those terms are defined in BOEM's regulations at 30 CFR 585.113.

iii. They are both direct or indirect subsidiaries of the same parent company.

iv. With respect to any lease(s) offered in this auction, they have entered into an agreement prior to the auction regarding the shared ownership, operation, or day-to-day management of such lease. Such an agreement need not be formalized to establish affiliated entities.

v. Other evidence that indicates the existence of power to exercise control, such as evidence that one bidding entity has power to exercise control over the other, or that multiple bidders collectively have the power to exercise control over another bidding entity or entities.

Affiliated entities are not permitted to compete against each other in the auction. Where two or more affiliated entities have qualified to bid in the auction, the affiliated entities must decide prior to the auction which one (if any) will participate in the auction. If two or more affiliated entities attempt to participate in the auction, BOEM will disqualify those bidders from the auction.

III. Deadlines and Milestones for Bidders

This section describes the major deadlines and milestones in the auction process from publication of this FSN to execution of a lease issued pursuant to this sale.

a. FSN Waiting Period: During the period between FSN publication and the lease auction, qualified bidders must take several steps to be able to participate in the auction.

i. Bidder's Financial Form: Each bidder must submit a BFF to BOEM to participate in the auction. The BFF must include each bidder's Conceptual Strategy for each bidding credit for which that bidder wishes to be considered. BOEM must receive each bidder's BFF on or before September 13, 2024, and it is each bidder's responsibility to ensure BOEM's timely receipt of the BFF. If a bidder does not submit a BFF by this deadline, BOEM, in its sole discretion, may grant an extension to that bidder only if BOEM determines the bidder's failure to timely submit a BFF was caused by events beyond the bidder's control. The BFF can be downloaded at: https://www.boem.gov/​renewable-energy/​state-activities/​oregon. Once BOEM has processed a bidder's BFF, the bidder is allowed to log into www.pay.gov and submit a bid deposit. For purposes of this auction, BOEM will not consider BFFs submitted for previous lease sales. An original signed BFF may be mailed to BOEM's Pacific Regional Office. A signed copy of the form may be submitted in PDF format to [e-mail]. A faxed copy will not be accepted. BFF submissions should be accompanied by a transmittal letter on company letterhead. The BFF must be executed on paper with a wet signature or with a digital signature affixed by an authorized representative listed on the bidder's current legal qualification card on file with BOEM, subject to 18 U.S.C. 1001 (False Statements, Concealment). Further information about the BFF can be found in the “Bidder's Financial Form” Section VII of this notice.

ii. Bid Deposit: Once BOEM has processed a BFF and provided the appropriate information to the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), ONRR will populate the Bid Deposit Forms and notify the bidders of access to www.pay.gov for the bid deposits. The bidder must log into www.pay.gov to submit a bid deposit. To participate in the mock auction and the monetary auction, each qualified bidder must provide a bid deposit of $2,000,000 no later than September 27, 2024. BOEM will grant extensions to this deadline only if BOEM, in its sole discretion, determines that the failure to timely submit the bid deposit was caused by events beyond the bidder's control. Further information about bid deposits can be found in the “Bid Deposit” Section X of this notice.

b. Conducting the Auction:

i. Affirmative Action: Prior to bidding in the monetary auction, each bidder must file the Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Representation Form ( print page 71400) BOEM-2032 (February 2020, available on BOEM's website at www.boem.gov/​BOEM-2032/​) and the Equal Opportunity Compliance Report Certification Form BOEM-2033 (February 2020, available on BOEM's website at www.boem.gov/​BOEM-2033/​) with the BOEM Pacific Regional Office. The forms can be submitted digitally to [e-mail] or mailed to the BOEM Pacific Regional Office. This certification is required by 41 CFR part 60 and Executive Order (E.O.) 11246, issued September 24, 1965, as amended by E.O. 11375, issued October 13, 1967, and by E.O. 13672, issued July 21, 2014. Both forms must be on file with BOEM for the bidder(s) prior to the execution of any lease contract.

ii. Notification of Eligibility for Bidding Credits: BOEM will notify each bidder of its eligibility for bidding credits and the value of those bidding credits prior to the Mock Auction.

iii. Mock Auction: BOEM will hold a Mock Auction on October 10, 2024, beginning at 7:00 a.m. PT/10:00 a.m. ET, which is open only to qualified bidders who have met the requirements and deadlines for auction participation, including submission of the bid deposit. The Mock Auction is intended to give bidders an opportunity to clarify auction rules, test the functionality of the auction software, and identify any potential issues that may arise during the auction.

iv. The Auction: On October 15, 2024, BOEM, through its contractor, will commence the multiple-factor auction. The first round of the auction will start at 7:00 a.m. PT/10:00 a.m. ET. The auction will proceed electronically according to a schedule to be distributed by the BOEM Auction Manager at the beginning of the auction, subject to any revisions (which will be communicated to bidders during the auction). BOEM anticipates that the auction will last one or two business days, but the auction may continue for additional business days, as necessary, until the auction ends in accordance with the procedures described in the “Auction Procedures” section of this notice.

v. Announce Provisional Winners: BOEM will announce the provisional winners of the lease sale after the auction ends.

c. From the Auction to Lease Execution:

i. Refund Non-Winners: Once the provisional winners have been announced, BOEM will provide the non-winners with a written explanation of why they did not win and will coordinate with ONRR to return their bid deposits.

ii. Department of Justice (DOJ) Review: DOJ will have 30 days in which to conduct an antitrust review of the auction, pursuant to 43 U.S.C. 1337(c).

iii. Delivery of the Lease: BOEM will provide an unsigned copy of the lease to each provisional winner, with instructions on how to execute the lease.

iv. Return the Lease: Within ten business days of receiving the lease, the auction winners must post financial assurance, pay any outstanding balance of their winning bids ( i.e., winning cash bid less applicable bid deposits), and sign and return the executed lease. The winners may request extensions and BOEM, in its discretion, may grant such a request.

v. Execution of Lease: BOEM will execute the lease by signing the lease on behalf of the United States only after the provisional winner completes the requirements in paragraph (b) of 30 CFR 585.225 and any appeals timely filed under § 585.118(c)(1) have been resolved. After BOEM executes the lease, the provisional winner becomes the winning bidder, and BOEM will send the winning bidder an electronic version of the fully executed copy of the lease. The lease takes effect as set forth in § 585.237. The first 12 months' rent under § 585.503(a) is due 45 calendar days after receiving a copy of the executed lease from BOEM.

IV. Areas Offered for Leasing

The two Lease Areas included in this FSN are the same size and orientation as were described in the Proposed Sale Notice (PSN). BOEM's designation of the two Lease Areas offered in the FSN is informed by coordination with BOEM's intergovernmental task force members, consultation and engagement with Tribes, stakeholder engagement, a partnership with NOAA's NCCOS to use spatial modeling to inform the identification of WEAs, and consideration of the 281 comments that BOEM received in response to the PSN. The two areas BOEM is offering for lease are: the Brookings Lease Area, OCS-P 0567, which consists of 133,792 acres and is approximately 18 miles from shore; and the Coos Bay Lease Area, OCS-P 0566, which consists of 61,203 acres and is approximately 32 miles from shore.

Descriptions of the proposed Lease Areas can be found in Addendum A of the proposed leases, which can be found on BOEM's website at: https://www.boem.gov/​renewable-energy/​state-activities/​oregon. The areas available for lease, as listed in Table 1, will be auctioned in a single auction.

Table 1—PACW-2 Final Lease Areas

Lease area name	Lease area ID	Acres
Brookings	OCS-P 0567	133,792
Coos Bay	OCS-P 0566	61,203
Total		194,995

a. Map of the Area for Leasing: A map of the Lease Areas, and GIS spatial files X, Y (eastings, northings) UTM Zone 18, NAD83 Datum, and geographic X, Y (longitude, latitude), NAD83 Datum can be found on BOEM's website at: www.boem.gov/​renewable-energy/​state-activities/​oregon.

V. Lease Stipulations

BOEM is including several lease stipulations in Addendum C of each lease related to reporting requirements, avoiding and minimizing potential future user conflicts and environmental impacts, project labor agreements, national security, and project design. BOEM is also including conditions of the Oregon Department of Land, Conservation and Development's conditional concurrence with the federal consistency determination pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act for the Oregon proposed Lease Areas. Requirements pertaining to a single activity may arise from more than one consultation process and may also, in some instances, be slightly different; where this has occurred, BOEM incorporated the most protective measure in the lease. BOEM has also refined some stipulations identified in the PSN and proposed leases in response to comments on the PSN.

a. Reporting requirements: BOEM is including stipulations similar to those found in previous leases in other areas of the OCS requiring a semi-annual ( print page 71401) progress report from lessees and regular engagement with Tribes and parties that may be affected by lessees' activities on the OCS. The lease stipulations require working with BOEM to identify: Tribes that have cultural and/or historical ties to the Lease Areas, and potentially affected parties; coastal communities; commercial and recreational fishing industries and stakeholders; educational and research institutions; environmental and public interest NGOs; Federal, State, and local agencies; mariners and the maritime industry; ocean users; submarine cable operators; and underserved communities, as defined in Section 2 of E.O. 13985. The report must identify Tribes and parties that may be affected by lessees' activities on the OCS and with whom the lessees have engaged; provide updates on engagement activities; document potential adverse effects to the interests of Tribes and parties; document how, if at all, project design or implementation has been informed or altered to address those potential effects; include feedback from engagement regarding transmission planning prior to proposing any export cable route; provide information that can be made available to the public; and include strategies to reach potentially affected individuals with limited English proficiency.

The stipulations include requirements for lessees to engage in ways that minimize linguistic, technological, cultural, capacity, or other obstacles. The stipulations encourage lessees to work collaboratively with governments, community leadership and organizations, and Tribes and to develop specific frameworks for capacity building.

In acknowledgment of the existing and growing consultation burden placed on many of the Tribes and parties, the stipulation also requires, to the maximum extent practicable, that lessees coordinate with one another on engagement activities. It is BOEM's intention that this requirement for lessees to coordinate their engagement apply not only to meetings proposed by lessees, but also to reasonable requests to coordinate engagement made by Tribes and parties. Coordinated engagement among Tribes and lessees is strongly encouraged and is in addition to BOEM's responsibilities to federally recognized Tribes under E.O. 13175.

Lastly, the progress report must include an update on activities executed under any survey plan and any meteorological and/or oceanographic buoy deployment planned or undertaken within the leased area that includes confirmation of the measures the lessee took, or will take, to satisfy the conditions of any applicable lease stipulations.

b. Communication Plans: BOEM is including lease requirements for development of a Native American Tribes Communication Plan, an Agency Communication Plan and a Fisheries Communication Plan, as included in previous leases. Experience in other regions has shown that 120 days after lease execution is not a sufficient time period in which to draft comprehensive communications plans for fisheries, Tribes, and government agencies. For this Lease Sale, BOEM is extending the 120-day requirement to a 180-day requirement to allow sufficient time for lessees to engage with entities to develop communication plans.

c. Best Management Practices: The EA for this lease sale lists a number of best management practices which would reduce potential impacts to resources, including those with respect to Water Quality, Marine Debris Awareness and Prevention, Birds, Commercial Fishing, Historic Properties, Sensitive Seafloor Habitats, and Protected Species (in addition to requirements arising under Endangered Species Act (ESA) Consultation and described below). The full text of the EA, including Appendix E, must be reviewed, and the appropriate measures should be incorporated into project activities by lessees.

d. Protected Species: In August 2024, BOEM published the Final EA, which includes the most current measures to minimize potential adverse impacts, including Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species of marine mammals and sea turtles. BOEM has included in the leases these measures from the EA and the ESA Concurrence Letter and Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Response issued on July 12, 2024.

e. Marine Mammal Protection Act Authorization(s): If the lessee is required to obtain an authorization pursuant to section 101(a)(5) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act prior to conducting survey activities in support of plan submittal, the lessee must provide BOEM with a copy of the authorization prior to commencing these activities.

f. Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) and Supply Chain: BOEM is committed to workforce safety and the establishment of a durable domestic supply chain that can sustain the U.S. offshore wind energy industry, including for the leases offered in this sale. To advance these goals, BOEM is including three lease stipulations, one for safety requirements, a second that encourages construction efficiency for projects, and a third that contributes towards establishing a domestic supply chain:

i. As part of its safety requirements, lessees must maintain all places of employment for activities in compliance with occupational safety and health standards, free from recognized hazards to employees of the lessee or of any contractor or subcontractor operating under this lease, and free from retaliation or discrimination against any employee or contractor who raises a health and safety concern on the job.

ii. A second stipulation requires lessees to make every reasonable effort to enter into a PLA covering the construction stage of any project for the Lease Areas.

iii. The third stipulation requires lessees to establish a Statement of Goals in which the lessee describes its plans for contributing to the creation of a robust and resilient U.S.-based floating offshore wind industry supply chain that would facilitate this or other renewable energy projects permitted by BOEM.

The lessee is also required to provide regular progress updates on the achievement of those goals to BOEM, and BOEM will make those updates publicly available.

g. Research Site Access: This stipulation makes explicit that BOEM, or its designated representative, retains the right to access, for research purposes, the site of any operation or activity conducted under this lease.

h. Archaeological Survey Requirements: This stipulation requires that the lessee provide to BOEM, in the associated plan submissions, a description of the methods it will use to conduct archaeological surveys in support of meteorological and oceanographic buoy siting and SAP and COP development, in addition to the survey results. The lessee is required to coordinate a Tribal pre-survey meeting with Tribes that have cultural and/or historical ties to the Lease Area, and the lessee must work with BOEM to identify such Tribes. In the post-review discovery clauses, the stipulation requires that, in the event of an unanticipated discovery of a potential archaeological resource, the lessee will immediately halt bottom-disturbing activities occurring within 50 meters (164 feet) or less of the discovery and that the avoidance distance must be calculated from the maximum discernible extent of the archaeological resource. The lessee must follow the procedures in 30 CFR 585.702 to notify BOEM of the discovery and provide written notification using the State of Oregon's Inadvertent Discovery Plan template, available at: https:// ( print page 71402) www.oregonlegislature.gov/​cis/​Pages/​archaeology.aspx.

i. Foreign Interest: To protect national defense capabilities and military operations, BOEM is requiring the lessee to provide to the Department of Defense (DoD) specific information about the personnel allowed to access the wind turbine structures and associated data systems. That information includes the names of entities or persons having a direct ownership interest in an offshore wind energy facility, as well as any changes in ownership interests; and the names of the material vendors, entities, and persons with whom the lessee will potentially execute contracts to perform construction, supply turbines or other components, or conduct construction and operational activities at the facility. In addition, the lessee must resolve DoD's security concerns before it allows access to the site by foreign persons or representatives of foreign entities for which DoD has raised concerns and before the lessee uses wind turbines or other permanent on-site equipment manufactured by such an entity.

j. Notice of Assignment to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS): Under BOEM's regulations at 30 CFR 585.107, a lessee must be one of the following: (1) a citizen or national of the United States; (2) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20); (3) a private, public, or municipal corporation organized under the laws of any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any territory or insular possession subject to U.S. jurisdiction; (4) an association of such citizens, nationals, resident aliens, or corporations; (5) an Executive Agency of the United States, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105; (6) a State of the United States; or (7) a political subdivision of a State of the United States. BOEM is including a stipulation that requires any proposed assignee of the lease that is a foreign-controlled business entity under the regulations at 31 CFR part 800 to provide joint notice, with the lessee/assignor, to CFIUS of the proposed leasing transaction, in accordance with applicable regulations at 31 CFR part 800, subpart D, and to provide a copy of the notice to the DoD. BOEM's approval of any assignment of lease interest to a foreign-controlled business entity, as defined in 31 CFR part 800, is subject to this CFIUS notice stipulation. Such assignments would take place only after CFIUS provides notice that it has concluded all necessary reviews under section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended, with respect to the leasing decision or assignment.

j. Oregon Department of Land, Conservation and Development (DLCD) Consistency Determination Conditions: On April 30, 2024, BOEM provided a Consistency Determination to the Oregon Coastal Management Program of the Department of Land Conservation and Development (OCMP). On July 17, 2024, OCMP concurred conditionally with BOEM's Consistency Determination and BOEM has included conditions in the leases to address OCMP's conditions.

VI. Potential Future Restrictions

a. Measures for Vessel Transit: The information currently available does not indicate that vessel routing mitigation measures are warranted in the Lease Areas at lease execution, and the U.S. Coast Guard PAC-PARS study recommends fairways that avoid the Lease Areas entirely. However, at the COP stage, BOEM may consider designating portions of the Lease Areas as areas of no surface occupancy to facilitate vessel transit and continuance of existing uses.

b. Archaeological Resources: Potential bidders are advised that portions of the Lease Areas may not be available for future development ( i.e., installation of wind energy facilities) because of archaeological and cultural resources. Potential development may be restricted consistent with requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act. BOEM will require further data collection and evaluation of submerged cultural resources, culturally significant viewsheds, and restrictions on impacts to these resources will be reviewed by BOEM during the COP stage.

c. NOAA U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) High-Frequency (HF) Radar: Potential bidders are advised that offshore wind energy projects in the Lease Areas may cause wind turbine interference to NOAA's IOOS HF oceanographic radars, which provide measurement coverage of the lease area region. Due to potential implications to maritime safety, navigation, U.S. Coast Guard search-and-rescue, weather forecasting, and other applications of HF-radar systems' data, BOEM may require future mitigation as a condition of project approval.

d. Benthic and Seafloor Habitat Surveys: Potential bidders are advised that portions of the Lease Areas may not be available for future development due to sensitive seafloor habitats, especially portions of the Brookings Lease Area. BOEM will require further data gathering and comprehensive high-resolutions mapping and sampling of seafloor habitats from lessees and may place further restrictions on disturbances of sensitive seafloor habitats as a condition of a COP approval, including potential mitigations in facility design.

e. Scientific surveys: Potential bidders are advised that NMFS conducts long-term scientific surveys along the U.S. West Coast, including in the Lease Areas, necessary for the management of NOAA trust resources. Measures may be needed to avoid and minimize impacts to these federal surveys from site assessment and characterization activities and any future offshore wind infrastructure. Where impacts cannot be avoided, mitigation measures, developed in concert with NMFS, may need to be employed for the operational life span of the lease.

VII. Lease Terms and Conditions

BOEM has made available the terms, conditions, and stipulations for the commercial wind leases that will be offered through this sale. BOEM reserves the right to require compliance with additional terms and conditions associated with the approval of a COP. The lease forms are on BOEM's website at: https://www.boem.gov/​renewable-energy/​state-activities/​oregon. Each lease will include the following attachments:

1. Addendum A (“Description of Leased Area and Lease Activities”);

2. Addendum B (“Lease Term and Financial Schedule”);

3. Addendum C (“Lease-Specific Terms, Conditions, and Stipulations”);

4. Addendum D (“Project Easement”).

Addenda A, B, and C provide detailed lease terms and conditions. Addendum D will be completed at the time of COP approval or approval with modifications if a COP is approved.

a. Revised Lease Terms and Conditions as a Result of the Renewable Energy Modernization Rule: On May 15, 2024, BOEM published in the Federal Register the Renewable Energy Modernization Rule (Rule), which went into effect on July 15, 2024. To ensure consistency with the Rule, BOEM made revisions to the lease published with the PSN that are reflected in the lease published with this FSN. Substantial changes were made to the following sections:

• Section 6: Associated Project Easements
• Section 10: Financial Assurance
• Addendum A: V. Description of Lease Activities
• Addendum B: I. Lease Periods; III. Lease Payments; IV. Financial Assurance (deleted in its entirety)

Addendum C: 3.1.5 Survey and Meteorological and/or Oceanographic ( print page 71403) Buoy Deployment Reporting; 5.5.5 Geotechnical Exploration and Deployment of Meteorological and/or Oceanographic Buoys

b. Required Plans for Potential Development of Executed Leases: Each commercial lease has a preliminary period of up to five years. During the preliminary period, the lessee must submit a COP. The preliminary period begins on the effective date of the lease and ends either when a COP is received by BOEM for review or at the expiration of five years, whichever occurs first. Lessees may request an extension of the lease preliminary period for good cause, such as the need for more time to obtain an offtake agreement. In its discretion, BOEM may approve the request.

VIII. Lease Payments

This section provides an overview of the required annual payments under the lease. Potential bidders should review the lease for more detailed information, including any changes from leases issued in previous sales.^[1]

a. Rent: Pursuant to 30 CFR 585.225(f) and 585.503, the first year's rent payment of $3 per acre is due within 45-calendar days after the lessee receives the executed lease copies from BOEM. Thereafter, annual rent payments are due on the anniversary of the Effective Date of the lease (the “Lease Anniversary”). Once commercial operations under the lease begin, BOEM will charge rent only for the portions of the Lease Area remaining undeveloped ( i.e., non-generating acreage). For example, for the 61,203 acres of Lease Area OCS-P 0566 (Coos Bay), the rent payment would be $183,609 per year until commercial operations begin.

If the lessee submits an application for relinquishment of a portion of its leased area within the first 45-calendar days after receiving the lease copies from BOEM and BOEM approves that application, no rent payment will be due on the relinquished portion of the Lease Area. Later relinquishments of any portion of the Lease Area will reduce the lessee's rent payments starting in the year following BOEM's approval of the relinquishment.

A lease issued under 30 CFR part 585 confers on the lessee the right to one or more project easements, without further competition, for the purpose of installing, maintaining, repairing and replacing: gathering, transmission, and distribution, and inter-array cables; power and pumping stations; facility anchors; pipelines; and associated facilities and other appurtenances on the OCS as necessary for the full enjoyment of the lease. A lessee must apply for the project easement as part of the COP, as provided under subpart G of 30 CFR part 585.

The lessee also must pay rent for any project easement associated with the lease. Rent commences on the date that BOEM approves the COP that describes the project easement (or any modification of such COP that affects the easement acreage), as outlined in 30 CFR 585.507. Annual rent for a project easement is the greater of $5 per acre per year, or $450 per year. If a COP revision results in increased easement acreage, BOEM will require the appropriate amount of additional rent when it approves the revised COP.

b. Operating Fee: For purposes of calculating the initial annual operating fee payment under 30 CFR 585.506, BOEM applies an operating fee rate to a proxy for the wholesale market value of the electricity expected to be generated from the project during its first 12 months of operations. This initial payment will be prorated to reflect the period between the commencement of commercial operations and the Lease Anniversary. The initial annual operating fee payment will be due within 90-calendar days of the commencement of commercial operations. Thereafter, subsequent annual operating fee payments will be due on or before the Lease Anniversary.

The subsequent annual operating fee payments will be calculated by multiplying the operating fee rate by the imputed wholesale market value of the projected annual electric power production. For the purposes of this calculation, the imputed market value will be the product of the project's annual nameplate capacity, the total number of hours in a year (8,760), the capacity factor, and the annual average price of electricity derived from a regional wholesale power price index. For example, the annual operating fee for a 976 megawatt (MW) wind facility operating at a 40 percent capacity ( i.e., capacity factor of 0.4) with a regional wholesale power price of $40 per megawatt hour (MWh) and an operating fee rate of 0.02 will be calculated as follows:



i. Operating Fee Rate: The operating fee rate is the share of the imputed wholesale market value of the projected annual electric power production due to ONRR as an annual operating fee. For the Lease Areas, BOEM will set the fee rate at 0.02 (2 percent) for the entire life of commercial operations.

ii. Nameplate Capacity: Nameplate capacity is the maximum rated electric output, expressed in MW, which the turbines of the wind facility under commercial operations can produce at their rated wind speed as designated by the turbine's manufacturer.

iii. Capacity Factor: The capacity factor relates to the amount of energy delivered to the grid during a period of time compared to the amount of energy the wind facility would have produced at full capacity during that same period of time. BOEM will set the capacity factor at 0.4 ( i.e., 40 percent) for the year in which the commercial operations begin and for the first 6 full years of commercial operations on the lease. At the end of the sixth year, BOEM may adjust the capacity factor to reflect the performance over the previous 5 years based upon the actual metered electricity generation at the delivery point to the electrical grid. BOEM may make similar adjustments to the capacity factor once every 5 years thereafter.

iv. Wholesale Power Price Index: Under 30 CFR 585.506(c)(2)(i), the wholesale power price, expressed in dollars per MWh, is determined at the time each annual operating fee payment is due. For the leases offered in this sale, ( print page 71404) the following table provides the price data. A similar price dataset may also be used and may be posted by BOEM at https://www.boem.gov for reference.

Lease area name	Wholesale power price
Brookings, OCS-P 0567	Mid-Columbia.
Coos Bay, OCS-P 0566	Mid-Columbia.

c. Financial Assurance: Within 10 business days after receiving the unsigned lease copy for execution and pursuant to 30 CFR 585.516(a)(1) the provisional winners must provide an initial lease-specific bond or other BOEM-approved financial assurance instrument in the amount of annual rent due over the next 12 months. The provisional winners may meet financial assurance requirements by posting a surety bond or other financial assurance instrument as detailed in 30 CFR 585.526-585.529. BOEM encourages the provisional winners to discuss the financial assurance instrument requirements with BOEM as soon as possible after the auction has concluded.

BOEM will base the amount of all SAP, COP, and decommissioning financial assurance on cost estimates for meeting all accrued lease obligations at the respective stages of development. The required amount of supplemental and decommissioning financial assurance will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

The payment terms described above can be found in Addendum “B” of the lease, which is available at: https://www.boem.gov/​renewable-energy/​state-activities/​oregon.

IX. Bidder's Financial Form

Each bidder must submit to BOEM the information required in the BFF referenced in this FSN. A copy of the form is available at: https://www.boem.gov/​renewable-energy/​state-activities/​oregon. BOEM recommends that each bidder designate an email address in its BFF that the bidder must use to create an account in www.pay.gov (if it has not already done so). BOEM must receive BFFs, including Conceptual Strategies, no later than September 13, 2024. If a bidder does not submit a BFF for this sale by the deadline, BOEM, in its sole discretion, may grant an extension to that bidder only if BOEM determines the bidder's failure to timely submit a BFF was caused by events beyond the bidder's control. The BFF is required to be executed by an authorized representative listed in the bidder's qualification package on file with BOEM. BFFs submitted by bidders for previous lease sales will not satisfy the requirements of this auction.

For the PACW-2, BOEM will accept bidders' BFFs and Conceptual Strategies electronically or by mail. Instructions for submission can be found in the BFF. The BFF must be executed on paper with a wet signature or with the application of a digital signature by an authorized representative listed on the legal qualification card currently on file with BOEM as authorized to bind the company. Winning bidders who have committed to bidding credit(s) must meet the bidding credit requirements no later than submission of their first Facility Design Report (FDR) or the tenth Lease Anniversary, whichever is sooner.

X. Bid Deposit

A bid deposit is an advance cash payment submitted to BOEM to participate in the auction. ONRR will notify the bidders that they have access to the Bid Deposit Form in www.pay.gov, and bidders must use the Bid Deposit Form on the Weblink for Federal Register is: https://onrr.gov/​paying/​payment-options?​tabs=​renewable-energy,bid-deposit-options website to submit a deposit. Bidders may need to create an account in www.pay.gov to access the Bid Deposit Form and submit a deposit. Each bidder must submit a bid deposit of $2,000,000 no later than September 27, 2024, to be eligible to bid for one lease area. Any bidder who fails to submit the bid deposit by this deadline may be disqualified from participating in the auction. BOEM will consider extensions to this deadline only if BOEM, in its sole discretion, determines that the failure to timely submit the bid deposit was caused by events beyond the bidder's control.

Following the auction, provisional winners' bid deposits will be applied against their winning cash bids. Once BOEM has announced the provisional winners, BOEM will coordinate with ONRR to refund bid deposits to the other bidders.

If BOEM offers a lease to a provisionally winning bidder and that bidder fails to timely return the signed lease form, establish financial assurance, or pay the balance of its bid, BOEM may retain the bidder's $2,000,000 bid deposit. In such a circumstance, BOEM may determine which bid would have won in the absence of the bid previously determined to be the winning bid and may offer a lease to this next highest bidder if this next highest bidder is not a provisionally winning bidder of the other Lease Area in the auction. This process may be repeated if needed.

XI. Minimum Bid

The minimum bid is the lowest dollar amount per acre that BOEM will accept as a winning bid and is the amount at which BOEM will start the bidding in the auction. BOEM has established a minimum bid of $50.00 per acre for this lease sale.

XII. Auction Procedures

a. Multiple-Factor Bidding Auction: BOEM will use a multiple factor auction format for this lease sale. Under 30 CFR 585.113, a multiple factor auction means an auction that involves the use of factors other than cash, such as bidding credits, to incentivize goals or actions that support public policy objectives or maximize public benefits through the competitive leasing auction process. For any multiple factor auction, the monetary value of the bidding credits, if any, is added to the value of the cash bids to determine the highest bidder. The bid made by a particular bidder in each round of this lease sale will represent the sum of the monetary factor (cash bid) and the value of any non-monetary factors in the form of bidding credits. Bidders will be subject to a `one-per-customer' rule, meaning that each bidder can acquire at most one lease area. BOEM will start the auction using the minimum bid price for each lease area and will increase prices incrementally until no more than one bidder remains bidding on each Lease Area in the auction.

BOEM is not revising the bidding credit percentages from those proposed in the PSN: a 15 percent workforce training and/or supply chain bid credit, a 5 percent Lease Area Use Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) bid credit and a 5 percent general CBA bid credit. The total of all offered bidding credits remains at 25 percent. For this sale, BOEM is calculating bidding credits as a percentage of the whole bid, which is a change from the method used in prior sales, where bidding credits were calculated as a percentage of the cash portion of the bid. The intended purpose of this change is to simplify the bidding credit calculation.

BOEM will grant bidding credits to bidders that commit to one or more of the following, subject to review of the bidder's BFF and Conceptual Strategy.

i. Supporting workforce training programs for the floating offshore wind industry or supporting the development of a domestic supply chain for the floating offshore wind industry, or a combination of both; or ( print page 71405)

ii. Establishing a Lease Area Use Community Benefit Agreement (Lease Area Use CBA) with one or more communities, stakeholder groups, or Tribal entities whose use of the geographic space of the Lease Area, or whose use of resources harvested from that geographic space, is expected to be impacted by the lessee's potential offshore wind development; or

iii. Establishing a General Community Benefit Agreement (General CBA) with one or more communities, Tribes, or stakeholder groups that are expected to be affected by the potential impacts on the marine, coastal and/or human environment (such as impacts to visual or cultural resources) from activities resulting from lease development that are not otherwise addressed by the Lease Area Use CBA.

These bidding credits are intended to:

i. Enhance, through training, the floating offshore wind workforce and/or enhance the establishment of a domestic supply chain for floating offshore wind manufacturing, assembly, or services, both of which will contribute to the expeditious and orderly development of offshore wind resources on the OCS; and

ii. Minimize potential impacts to a community or stakeholder group from renewable energy activity or structures on the Lease Area, and particularly to assist fishing and related industries to manage transitions, gear changes, or other similar impacts which may arise from the development of the Lease Area; and

iii. Minimize any potential impacts to a Tribe, community or stakeholder group from floating offshore wind energy development, particularly to assist them in managing transitions, changes or other similar impacts which may arise from the development of the Lease Area.

b. Changes to Auction Rules: BOEM will be employing new auction software for lease sales held in 2024. The auction format remains an ascending clock auction with multiple-factor bidding. There are four main changes to the ascending clock auction rules in the new software applicable to this lease sale, as follows:

i. If a bidder decides to bid on a different Lease Area in a given round of the auction, it may submit a bid to reduce demand for the Lease Area it bid on in the previous round and, simultaneously, submit a bid to increase demand for another Lease Area. This allows a bidder the option to switch to another Lease Area if the price of the first Lease Area exceeds the bidder's specified bid price.

ii. Provisional winners will no longer be determined using a two-step process. The auction rules are implemented in a way such that, when the auction concludes, the bidder who remains on a Lease Area after the final round becomes its provisional winner. There will be no additional processing step.

iii. The auction will use a “second price” rule. A given Lease Area will be won by the bidder that submitted the highest bid amount for the Lease Area, but the winning bidder will pay the highest bid amount at which there was competition ( i.e., the “second price”).

iv. Each bidder's bidding credit will be expressed directly as a percentage of the final price of the lease.

All potential bidders should review the Auction Procedures for Offshore Wind Lease Sales (Version 1) located at: https://www.boem.gov/​renewable-energy/​lease-and-grant-information.

c. The Auction: Using an online bidding system to host the auction, BOEM will start the bidding for Leases OCS-P 0567 and OCS-P 0566 as described below.

Lease area name	Lease area ID	Acres	Minimum bid
Brookings	OCS-P 0567	133,792	$6,689,600
Coos Bay	OCS-P 0566	61,203	3,060,150