Despite having incredible offshore wind potential, California has lagged behind Europe, China, and Japan in recent years in pursuing this key clean energy opportunity. Fortunately, thanks to several key policy developments in recent months, the Golden State is now poised to move quickly:

• The state of California recently signed a bill into law that puts the state on a path to offshore wind development for the first time. 

• AB 525 (Chiu) is aimed at jumpstarting California’s offshore wind industry by directing state agencies to set a target for development and prepare for utility scale offshore wind energy.

• Earlier this year, the Biden administration and the state of California struck a historic agreement to open up California waters to offshore wind development for the first time. 

  • The agreement opens up roughly 400 square miles off of the Central Coast northwest of Morro Bay to offshore wind development, and identifies a second location, west of Humboldt Bay for possible future offshore wind development. 

  • Together, the two areas could generate an estimated 4.6 gigawatts of clean, pollution-free electricity in the next decade — enough to power 1.6 million homes. An initial lease sale on the waters northwest of Morro Bay could come as early as 2022.

• The Biden administration announced a target of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy nationwide by 2030 — and California must play a key role in meeting this target.

  • Officials project that developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind could create 77,000 jobs and spur $12 billion in capital investments.