First it was Massachusetts, then Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island and New York all made noise in the race to become the first U.S. state to have an offshore wind farm. Now, North Carolina may steal the show by becoming the first state to put a turbine in its waters.

One of the U.S.’ largest utilities, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), will partner with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to place up to three demonstration wind turbines in Pamlico Sound off the coast of North Carolina.

The pilot project builds on a nine-month study completed in June 2009 by UNC which found that North Carolina is well positioned to develop utility-scale wind energy production. According to UNC and Duke Energy, the project’s turbines may actually be the first turbines placed in water in the United States — leapfrogging the long-embattled and politically contentious Cape Wind project in Massachusetts.

“This project is a great example of how university research can expand our understanding of an issue – in this case, wind energy,” said UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp.

Duke Energy says it will pay for the turbines and their installation, and UNC will continue its research throughout the project.

Duke Energy/UNC to test wind turbines in Pamlico Sound (location approximated).

The UNC researchers will conduct research on measuring and predicting the wind resource, quantifying ecological impacts, and demonstrating turbine performance in tropical storm conditions, which shouldn’t be hard as the Outer Banks are regularly slammed by tropical storms and hurricanes.

Over the coming weeks and months, UNC and Duke Energy will continue to seek out community comments and answer questions about the project.

“We are looking forward to working with UNC and residents of the Outer Banks to determine if and how we can use wind energy on a larger scale,” said Brett Carter, president of Duke Energy Carolinas.

The project creates an opportunity “for community feedback and collaboration, and it will be a very positive information-finding effort,” said North Carolina Senator Marc Basnight. “People will be able to view the turbines working and we will gain a greater understanding of how to use wind as a renewable energy source. What we learn from this project will chart the future of offshore wind energy for our state, and I am excited that the Outer Banks is a part of this effort.”

A recent report from the U.S. Department of the Interior showed shallow-water offshore wind farms could supply as much as 20% of the electricity in most coastal states. While the deep waters along the Pacific coast make offshore wind development a long way off, the relatively shallow waters along the eastern seaboard are another story.

In North Carolina, where the shallow waters and high winds in and around the Outer Banks are legendary, state legislators and some coastal counties are already preparing standards for where to allow wind farms. It is those very waters that Duke and UNC will be placing the test turbines.