ECONOMIC AND ENERGY POTENTIAL
California has some of the greatest offshore wind potential in the U.S. We can generate more electricity through offshore wind than we use in one year.
Harnessing the potential of offshore wind can help with California’s economic recovery -- creating a booming new industry that provides high-wage jobs, benefits and career training, including for workers from disadvantaged communities.
The offshore wind industry in California is projected to create up to 65,000 jobs during the construction phase and up to 4,500 long-term operation and maintenance jobs.
This includes jobs in the development, manufacturing, installation, and operation of offshore wind farms off the Pacific Coast.
Offshore wind would support a diverse array of jobs that catering to different education and experience levels, including environmental scientists, electrical engineers, construction laborers, welders, and sales representatives.
Investing in these shovel-ready projects will not only create jobs -- it will help keep electricity bills affordable for all Californians.
Savings of up to $2 billion from offshore wind are projected for California electricity customers. Offshore wind could help hold down costs for ratepayers as California pursues its emissions goals.
A recent analysis from California agencies found that at least 10 gigawatts of offshore wind must play a key role in California’s most affordable path to 100% clean energy.
Ratepayer savings from offshore wind would increase over time.
Even with out-of-state wind power added to the electricity mix, California offshore wind power remains a valuable and least-cost resource option.
Offshore wind is affordable.
Recent technological innovations have sent offshore wind costs plummeting, suggesting that by the mid-2020s, floating wind farms will be close enough to price parity with land-based renewables that they could play a large, complementary role in California’s power mix.
The results from offshore wind planning and deployment in Europe and the U.S. East Coast show that offshore wind could be a high-road industry that not only helps the state achieve its climate policy goals for emissions reductions, but also spurs broad-based growth, creates quality jobs, and benefits communities.
The avoided costs of offshore wind increase over time. This cost increase reflects the growing value of offshore wind over time as more and more greenhouse-gas-free energy is required to meet state policy goals and alternative sources become more expensive.
CLEAN AIR
Offshore wind creates new opportunities to provide communities with the clean energy they want and need. By ensuring this renewable energy reaches California's most polluted communities first - we can help improve air quality and health outcomes for those who need it most, while providing an alternative to polluting sources of energy.
California’s peaker power plants – gas plants that are used only a fraction of the time when electric demand is highest - have some of the highest rates of pollutant emissions when they are used. Across California, gas power plants are significantly more likely to be found in the state’s disadvantaged communities.
84% of peaker plants are located in areas considered to be in the most disadvantaged half of California communities and half of these peaker plants were located in the most disadvantaged 30%. Energy Policy
Offshore wind provides a clean alternative to gas plants to meet peak electricity demand during the state’s daily struggle of balancing the electricity grid.
Coastal winds speed up during the late afternoon and early evening, enabling offshore wind turbines to deliver higher power output during peak demand periods - creating a great balance between solar and wind power.
In California, offshore wind would bridge the daily late-afternoon gap between fast-vanishing solar output and rising residential electricity consumption. Pacific Ocean winds off California tend to reach their daily peak between 5 pm and 7 pm.
We need to tap into offshore wind power to deliver on the promise of 100% clean, renewable energy.
An analysis conducted in late 2016 by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory looked at the coastline of California and estimated offshore wind could produce about 1.5 times of the state’s total energy consumption, based on 2014 numbers.
In the U.S., offshore wind has the potential to generate more than 2,000 GW of capacity per year — nearly double the nation’s current electricity use, according to the DOE.
Even if only 1% of that potential is captured, nearly 6.5 million homes could be powered by offshore wind energy within the next decade.
For California to reach our 100 percent clean electricity target in 2045, in-state renewable energy generation needs to increase dramatically.
We urgently need to expand offshore wind energy generation in California -- recent studies by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) indicate that the state will require two to six times more renewables capacity by 2045 than is installed today.
Offshore wind provides an opportunity to leverage the state’s vast coastal resource and allows California to diversify its renewable energy resources beyond solar.