Deepwater Wind
Market Positioning • Public Engagement • Renewable Energy
The Need
When First Wind became part of the team pursuing what would become America's first offshore wind farm, Fred Surr and his team at Captains of Industry were brought in to help communicate an idea that had never been successfully developed in the United States. The timing couldn't have been more demanding. Deepwater Wind was in the middle of the competitive process for the nation's first offshore wind lease. They didn’t have the luxury of a lengthy research phase or a prolonged brand development effort.
The Assignment
What they did have was a key differentiator right next door. Cape Wind had spent years fighting opposition to turbines that would be visible from the beaches of Cape Cod and in the middle of one of the country's most iconic sailing areas. Deepwater Wind would be different. Located roughly twenty miles offshore, the project would be effectively invisible from land while still harnessing one of the strongest offshore wind resources in the world.
Sometimes the right message arrives all at once. During one strategy session, someone mentioned that the turbines would sit just over the horizon. My partner, Ted, looked down, started writing, and a few minutes later held up a piece of paper. Clean Energy Is Just Over the Horizon. The room nodded, and we were off to the races.
That simple idea became the foundation for the project's communications. It acknowledged what made the project fundamentally different without attacking the competition. From there, the message carried into proposals, presentations, public engagement, visual storytelling, and the broader effort to help decision makers imagine an industry that did not yet exist in America.
The Result
Deepwater Wind won the lease. The Block Island Wind Farm followed as a five-turbine/30MW proof of concept. After the company's acquisition by Ørsted, the execution expanded into what is now Revolution Wind, with 65 turbines generating over 700MW; it began delivering power in 2026.
Nearly twenty years later, we find ourselves working on many of the same questions again. The technology is proven, but political uncertainty has replaced technical uncertainty. Projects that have already been permitted are being delayed or canceled, investment decisions have become more difficult, and developers once again face the challenge of building public confidence in an uncertain environment. Through our work with New England for Offshore Wind and in Rhode Island's ongoing energy conversations, we've continued helping shape those discussions. The arguments have evolved - from whether offshore wind works to questions of affordability, energy security, political viability, and long-term economic competitiveness - but the work feels remarkably familiar.
That continuity - from helping launch America's first offshore wind project to participating in today's conversations about what comes next - has given us a perspective that spans the industry's entire modern history.