California officials are looking to expand offshore wind farms — a pricey but valuable resource that could play a key role in reaching 100% clean energy in the future.
The State Director of Environment California, Laura Deehan, who campaigns for offshore wind development and sponsored some of the passed bills, told the Washington Examiner that this new bill gives the state’s DRW “the power to do specific procurement for any clean energy that takes a while, like offshore wind or geothermal or long duration storage.”
Newsom also signed Senate Bill 286, another step forward in the process for new offshore wind development. SB 286 streamlines the state’s offshore wind permitting process by designating the State Lands Commission as the lead agency for California Environmental Quality Act in order to protect groups who may be affected by wind projects.
“We have the technology, we have the potential, to be able to capture the wind and use that power to generate electricity that could power everything in our society — it’s just this incredible opportunity,” Deehan said. The future for offshore wind gained momentum last December when the first leases were awarded to two federally designated wind areas. The federal government auctioned off leases for 583 square miles of ocean waters off Humboldt County and Morro Bay at the end of 2022, and leaseholders have been working meticulously to get their projects off the ground, hoping the slew of offshore wind legislation this session will fast-track things.