Block Island Wind Farm foundations in the background as the U.S. Coast Guard accompanies a ferry full of state and federal officials, and various stakeholders to celebrate the wind farm's construction, a milestone for offshore wind energy in the United States.

Deepwater Wind installed the first foundation over the weekend for what is slated to be the first offshore wind farm in the country. Monday morning the company took state and federal officials on a boat trip to see the barge, cranes, and foundations up close.

RIPR’s Ambar Espinoza rides out to the site of the nation’s first off shore wind farm, which has just installed the first foundations on the sea floor.

The morning started out dark and stormy, with lightning, thunder, and rain, but it didn’t seem to faze nearly 150 people who packed a ferry to check out the construction of the nation’s first offshore wind farm. Tricia Jedele is a Vice President of the environmental advocacy organization Conservation Law foundation. Jedele says the mood was celebratory.

“You know, we were getting on that boat with our ponchos and our raincoats to go see this,” said Jedele. “It was the pioneering spirit of resilient New Englanders that wanted to trot out there and see this first offshore wind farm.”

State and federal officials expressed their pride in this milestone, which they say sets Rhode Island as the leader in the nation’s emerging offshore wind energy industry.