San Luis Obispo County officials held a public information session on Wednesday about an offshore wind energy project that, if approved, would be placed off the coast of Morro Bay.
More than 500 hundred people packed the county government building or tuned in to join the discussion on the potential development of offshore wind farms off California's Central Coast.
Attendees hoped to learn more details about the massive project.
“[We] let everyone know from the perspective of locals, wind operators, and anyone involved — 'here’s what is involved in offshore wind coming in off the Central Coast,'” State Sen. John Laird, a Democrat representing the 17th district, said.
Two areas off the coast of California have been opened up for offshore wind energy development — the Humboldt Wind Energy Area and the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area. Officials have said the two areas together will generate enough electricity to power more than 1.5 million homes.
The Morro Bay Wind Energy Area is made up of three leases, totaling a little more than 80,000 acres each. The nearly 400-square-mile area is located off the coast northwest of Morro Bay.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the government agency within the Department of Interior that oversees such projects, said the wind energy projects within the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area will be about 20 miles off the coast.
If developed, the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area could provide up to 3 gigawatts of clean energy to the grid, according to a BOEM press release detailing the plan.
Sen. Laird said he wanted the public to understand the impact the offshore wind farms would have on the community.
“The federal government has lease areas for offshore wind," Sen. Laird said. "The companies are looking to build. There will need to be ports, and the ports will have to be big for construction, installation, operations in maintenance."
Three companies have already successfully bid for the three leases in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area: Equinor Wind US LLC, Golden State Wind LLC, and Invenergy California Offshore LLC.
As far as the potential environmental impact of the project, the BOEM found "[n]egligible to minor adverse effects to the environment from site characterization and assessment activities are expected to occur, depending on the specific environmental resource," according to a 2022 Finding of No Significant Impact document.
Read more about the project and the BOEM's detailed environmental assessment here. You can learn more about the project on the BOEM webpage detailing it.
The California Energy Commission says in the coming weeks it will be releasing a draft strategic plan on the next steps.
Mixed feelings from residents
Not everyone in the community is happy about the potential changes.
“What happens when we have a workforce of new people? Where are they going to live? In a city where the cost of living is already pushing out long-time seniors and low-income individuals?” Wendy Dyer asked. Dyer is a Morro Bay resident who moved to the area from Oregon a little over a year ago.
“I came to a small sleepy beach town expecting to have it stay that way," Dyer continued. "To be confronted with these plans of massive port development and all of the infrastructure that will come with that is deeply concerning to me in regards to the changing shape of the city I chose to relocate to."
Others are optimistic about what's to come.
“In order to address fossil fuels, it's going to take everything and the wind farm is part of that,” Morro Bay resident Richard Sadowski said.
Sadowski has been following this issue for a while and is in favor of the offshore wind farm.
“I feel like there's an opportunity for the wind farm companies to invest in our communities," Sadowski said. "For instance, in sea level rise and addressing all the climate changing issues that we have."
