Exciting socioeconomic winds are blowing across the nation, and nowhere do those forward-looking gales blow harder than Long Island, where offshore wind-generated electricity is foremost on the minds of private corporations, local governments, top universities and national laboratories, all jockeying for position in the clean-gen power play of the next century.

Among those surfing the winds: Eversource Energy, a New England-based utility (and Fortune 500 company) with about 4 million retail electricity, natural gas and water-service customers on land and some serious ambitions at sea. Partnering with Danish multinational power company Orsted, Eversource is developing three offshore-wind farms in the Northeast, including two projects off the Montauk coast: South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind, with commercial operations slated to begin in 2023 and 2024.

In today's conversation, Kenneth Bowes – Eversource Energy’s vice president for offshore wind siting and permitting – joins Spark host Gregory Zeller to discuss the heavy-duty science and major-league lobbying behind the nation's growing offshore-wind industry, and Long Island's critical role in that burgeoning infrastructure.