...AND CHEAPER...:

The United States currently produces almost no electricity from wind farms in ocean waters. That's about to change -- fast.

State leaders have spent years laying the groundwork: requiring their utilities to purchase set amounts of offshore power by certain dates, investing in ports and transmission infrastructure and setting up workforce training programs.

As a quickly growing list of projects enters the permitting and construction phases, many states are betting on offshore wind to be a crucial source of renewable power -- and an economic driver that will create thousands of manufacturing and maritime jobs.

"There's been an extraordinary ramp-up in activity," said New Hampshire state Sen. David Watters, a Democrat. "The industry is really maturing, the cost is coming down dramatically and states are figuring out the policies they want to support to encourage the industry."

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