Our new report, California Floating Offshore Wind: Evaluating Workforce Analyses and Assessing Professional Labor Needs, offers new insights into the professional workforce that will be needed in order to deploy floating offshore wind (FOSW) in California. The report (a) evaluates existing workforce analyses and tools, (b) examines key factors influencing job projections, and (c) assesses professional labor needs across multiple industry activities, including project development, supply chain, operations and maintenance, port development, and transmission infrastructure. In the context of this report, “professional occupations” refer to roles that typically require a university degree, and “professionals” are individuals in the workforce who hold such degrees.
Existing analyses for the sector exhibit significant variability in job projections. For example, estimates for job creation by 2030 range from 2,375 to 8,280 jobs — with differences largely driven by assumptions regarding project scale and level of state participation in the supply chain. This report includes a sensitivity analysis of supply chain factors using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Jobs and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) model. Our findings underscore the significant impact of in-state supply chain participation on overall job creation and workforce composition.
Our analysis indicates that of the total jobs that could be created through the development of a 1.5 GW offshore wind project in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area, the manufacturing of components accounts for 60%; staging, assembly, and installation represent 10%; development and soft costs account for 11%; and less than 18% are in operations and maintenance.
The report’s evaluation of professional occupations across the FOSW sector, found that professional occupations make up an estimated 37-41% of FOSW industry jobs (depending on the level of in-state supply chain activities), 20% of port development jobs, and 15% of onshore electric transmission development. In the FOSW industry, roles are concentrated in engineering, life and physical science, and management for many of the major activities.
To assess workforce readiness, this report also examines how professional FOSW industry and port development occupations align with existing degree programs at Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH). Our review indicates that CPH currently offers programs that align with nearly all professional roles in the FOSW industry and port development, with particular strengths in engineering and environmental sciences.
Download California Floating Offshore Wind: Evaluating Workforce Analyses and Assessing Professional Labor Needs from our publications archive.
For more information, contact: schatzenergy@humboldt.edu or 707-826-4345.
PacWave is a state-of-the-art, pre-permitted, grid-connected, wave energy test facility that is being developed in partnership with the US Department of Energy, the State of Oregon, Oregon State University (OSU) and local stakeholders. The open ocean test site consists of four berths, which occupy two square nautical miles of ocean with a cable to shore of approximately 12 miles in length (for each berth). Drilling for cable conduits began in summer 2021 and cable laying was completed in fall 2024; however, permitting and cable procurement started long before that. This webinar will describe the cabling process, including pre-installation environmental surveys and post-installation monitoring.
Presenters: Dan Hellin, the Director of the PacWave test facility and Sarah Henkel, the Associate Director of the Pacific Marine Energy Center at Oregon State University.
For questions about this webinar or to request technical or accessibility support, please contact schatzenergy@humboldt.edu or call 707-826-4345.
This webinar is being hosted by the Pacific Offshore Wind Consortium (POWC, pronounced pow-sea), which is a joint effort between three research centers: the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt, the Pacific Marine Energy Center at Oregon State University, and the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. These universities are all housed in and supported by the coastal communities that are anticipated to host floating offshore wind development. Together, the consortium aims to advance three pillars: (i) research and innovation, (ii) university-level workforce education and professional development, and (iii) community and Tribal engagement and knowledge exchange. Learn more about the POWC here.
Additional resources
If you’d like to receive emails about our offshore wind research and details on related webinars and presentations, please send us an email at windstudies@schatzcenter.org.
Responding to California’s Clean Transit Initiative, our local Humboldt Transit Authority (HTA) has begun a required transition to a zero-emission transit fleet. HTA will soon receive 11 New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE FC™ fuel cell electric buses and construct a hydrogen fueling station on their corporation yard to fuel them. HTA will also work with the City of Eureka to construct the Eureka Regional Transit and Housing Center—the EaRTH Center—in downtown Eureka. The Schatz Center worked with HTA to submit the grant proposal that funded this project and will work as HTA’s owner’s engineer as the project progresses. California’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program awarded HTA $39M for this work.
New bus service is also part of the project. HTA is initiating a new service — the Redwood Express — from Eureka to Ukiah and back. The new service will allow transit riders to connect to Mendocino Transit and then on to the SMART train, connecting to San Francisco and other Bay Area locations. The route to Ukiah and back is an exceptionally demanding route for a 40-foot transit bus and existing fuel cell buses were unable to complete the route on one tank of hydrogen fuel. HTA and Schatz worked with New Flyer on a new bus design with a larger fuel cell, a larger battery, a more powerful traction motor, and additional fuel storage. This new bus has a 370-mile range and will comfortably make the Redwood Express run.
HTA’s pilot fuel cell bus will arrive early in spring 2025 and be fueled at a temporary hydrogen fueler installed by Linde, an international gas supply company. The pilot bus will undergo an extensive testing program designed and overseen by the Schatz Center. Once certified, it will begin serving passengers on HTA’s Trinidad-to-Scotia and Redwood Express routes. The remaining 10 buses and the permanent hydrogen fueling station are planned for delivery and completion in 2026.
Who: Everyone is invited to attend this free event!
Carla J. Peterman is Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer for PG&E Corporation. At PG&E, she oversees the company’s regulatory, legislative, sustainability, and charitable strategies. Peterman has spent her career in several senior-level government and utility roles focused on California’s clean energy future. Peterman holds a PhD in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley, and MS and MBA degrees from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
Carla’s talk “Scaling Our Energy Future: Insights from the utility sector” will focus on how PG&E, as one of the nation’s largest electric and gas utilities, plans to scale the energy system to meet growing load and decarbonization and resiliency goals, while ensuring energy remains affordable.
This event is free and open to the public, and accessible parking is available nearby (see the BSS & Native American Forum buildings on the campus map).
Please contact us at schatzenergy@humboldt.eduor 707-826-4345 for additional accommodations or questions.
What factors influence people’s different responses to proposed offshore wind and wave energy developments – and what might the implications for future siting and permitting processes be? In this talk, Hilary Boudet and Gregory Stelmach of Oregon State University will share insights from their ongoing studies of community perspectives toward marine renewables development.
Hilary Boudet is a Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in the School of Public Policy at Oregon State University. Her research interests include environmental and energy policy, natural resource sociology, social movements, and public participation in energy and environmental decision-making. Greg Stelmach is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the School of Public Policy at Oregon State University and the Pacific Marine Energy Center.
For questions about this webinar or to request technical or accessibility support, please contact schatzenergy@humboldt.edu or call 707-826-4345.
This webinar is being hosted by the Pacific Offshore Wind Consortium (POWC, pronounced pow-sea), which is a joint effort between three research centers: the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt, the Pacific Marine Energy Center at Oregon State University, and the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. These universities are all housed in and supported by the coastal communities that are anticipated to host floating offshore wind development. Together, the consortium aims to advance three pillars: (i) research and innovation, (ii) university-level workforce education and professional development, and (iii) community and Tribal engagement and knowledge exchange. Learn more about the POWC here.
Where: Native American Forum (BSS 162) at Cal Poly Humboldt
Who: Everyone is invited to attend this free event!
Renewable energy development is necessary to decarbonize the electrical grid and move communities away from reliance on burning fossil fuels, and yet sometimes decarbonization efforts conflict with the also pressing work of decolonization. Advocates view renewable energy projects as necessary, even if building them requires sacrifices. But those sacrifices tend to fall on Indigenous people, who have already suffered genocide, loss of land, boarding schools, and other tragic consequences of colonization. To be truly just, climate solutions need to be developed outside of colonial structures, rather than replicate them. Featuring two journalists — one writer and one editor — this talk will touch on ways tribal communities are pushing back against renewable energy projects that threaten ecological and cultural resources, what alternative approaches to renewable energy development might look like, and how one Indigenous affairs reporter has brought these issues to light and made an impact through their work.
B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster is an award-winning journalist, reporting for the Indigenous affairs desk at High Country News from Chinook lands in the Pacific Northwest. Their work has also appeared in Foreign Policy, ICT News, Street Roots, the Portland Mercury and elsewhere. Their first feature for HCN, a story about Pacific lamprey, was nominated for a National Magazine award. They’re a member of the Uproot Project, the Trans Journalists Association, and the Indigiqueer committee at the Indigenous Journalists’s Association, as well as a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Jennifer Sahn has spent the past two decades working in the nonprofit journalism sphere, editing award-winning narrative nonfiction and leading teams to new heights. She is currently Editor in Chief of High Country News, a magazine about the West. She previously served as Executive Editor of Pacific Standard and as Editor of Orion magazine before that. She took a detour into the corporate world to work as Deputy Editor at Patagonia, Inc. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards, Utne Independent Press Awards, Pushcart Prize, O. Henry Prize, John Burroughs Essay Awards, and the Best American Series anthologies. She has been a judge for several literary awards and fellowships and has taught and lectured at a number of writing workshops.
This event is free and open to the public, and accessible parking and seating is available for the Native American Forum.
Please contact us at schatzenergy@humboldt.eduor 707-826-4345 for additional accommodations or questions.
Attention students: Do you want to learn more about environmental reporting and professional development? Join us on Thursday, February 20, from noon to 1 pm in the Library Fishbowl (2nd floor), for a student-oriented professional development workshop and pizza lunch with Oaster and Sahn. Questions? Email Professor Jennifer Marlow at jjm182@humboldt.edu.
Many thanks to our campus partners for sponsoring this event and supporting conversations around energy, equity, community, and sustainability! Collaborators for this event include faculty and staff in the departments of Environmental Science & Management (ESM), the ESM Justice Equity Diversity Inclusion Committee, Journalism & Mass Communication, Native American Studies, Environmental Studies, English, Engineering, and the Campus Library and Sustainability Office.
We also offer deep thanks to Native faculty, staff, and students at Cal Poly Humboldt for sharing their Forum with us for this special event.
Presented by: Eli Wallach and Arne Jacobson of the Schatz Center, and Stephanie Schneider and Sharon Kramer of H. T. Harvey & Associates.
Expert Panelists: Lisa Ballance (Oregon State University), Scott Johnson (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and David Pereksta (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management)
Due to strong and reliable winds off California, offshore wind will play a key role in the state’s goal to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2045. A new report led by the Schatz Energy Research Center in collaboration with H. T. Harvey & Associates evaluates the tradeoffs between the collision vulnerability of 44 seabird species and the offshore wind power-generation potential along California’s coast. This work will improve understanding of seabirds in 3D and help evaluate potential locations for future wind energy developments with minimized impact to seabird populations.
The study model uses a multi-objective optimization framework to balance between seabird densities at rotor-swept heights and anticipated energy production. The objective is to highlight regions that minimize seabird exposure while ensuring viable power generation. The results indicate that while seabirds are very abundant in the study area, most remain below rotor-swept heights and concentrate nearshore and to the south. Long term data suggests that about 8% of the seabird community is likely to be present above 10 meters, primarily the abundant Sooty Shearwater (a dynamic soaring species) and gulls.
These findings can guide offshore wind site selection to ensure California’s renewable energy development considers seabird populations, focusing on those that are most vulnerable.
This webinar will explore the methods used to model the collision vulnerability for forty-four seabird species, and how wind facility power generation was simulated. And, we will discuss possible tradeoffs between seabird vulnerability and power generation.
This webinar is being hosted by the Pacific Offshore Wind Consortium (POWC, pronounced pow-sea), which is a joint effort between three research centers: the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt, the Pacific Marine Energy Center at Oregon State University, and the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. These universities are all housed in and supported by the coastal communities that are anticipated to host floating offshore wind development. Together, the consortium aims to advance three pillars: (i) research and innovation, (ii) university-level workforce education and professional development, and (iii) community and Tribal engagement and knowledge exchange. Learn more about the POWC here.
Additional resources
If you’d like to receive emails about our offshore wind research and details on related webinars and presentations, please send us an email at windstudies@schatzcenter.org.
The Tribal Energy Resilience and Sovereignty project (TERAS) will empower four tribes in Northern California to transform one of the state’s least reliable electrical circuits into a highly resilient renewable energy system. Supported by $88 million in funding from the Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovative Partnerships (GRIP) program, this project will significantly advance tribal energy sovereignty, climate resilience, jobs equity, and clean energy innovation.
The 142 mile-long “Hoopa 1101” distribution circuit provides electricity to three tribes in eastern Humboldt County – the Hoopa, Yurok, and Karuk Tribes – who jointly experience some of the most frequent and longest duration outages in California. These three tribes are collaborating with the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe, located along the Baduwa’t River in coastal Humboldt, the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA), Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), and the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt, to co-develop nested microgrid solutions.
Advancing the state of microgrid technology
Major technical innovations of this project will include deployment of three nested microgrids – for the Hoopa, Yurok, and Karuk Tribes – and development of a complex controls system that is appropriate to support rugged, rural, and wildfire-prone environments. As “front-of-the-meter” energy systems, each of the three microgrids will be capable of powering a portion of PG&E’s electrical circuit during local outages, and will be able to function either jointly or independently, as immediate circumstances along the power line require.
To support this project, the Blue Lake Rancheria (BLR) is expanding its own campus energy system into four nested, behind-the-meter microgrids, which will provide a demonstration site for the controls system that will subsequently be deployed along the Hoopa 1101. “Tribes believe in the principles of self determination as a cornerstone of tribal sovereignty,” says Jason Ramos, Acting Chair of the Blue Lake Rancheria. “This project makes us even more resilient. As we demonstrated with our earlier microgrids, this nested microgrid project will advance critical technology, and that is good for all Californians. Robust microgrid technology will assist the state to reach its ambitious carbon emission goals.”
Technical development for TERAS is being led by the Schatz Energy Research Center – whose award-winning projects include California’s first front-of-the-meter, 100% renewable energy microgrid at the Redwood Coast Airport, and the BLR’s main campus microgrid system. “We are honored to work with this tribal partnership, and are excited to radically expand the capacity of microgrids to provide energy reliability in high-risk locations,” says Schatz Center Director Arne Jacobson. “These tribes are already leading the field in dam removal, healthy fire on the land, middle and last-mile telecommunications access, and renewable energy systems deployment – and will now support development of what we hope will be a game-changing climate resilience solution.”
Clean energy projects led by tribal partnership
As Chairman Russell “Buster” Attebery of the Karuk Tribe explains, “More often than not, the disadvantaged community of Panamnik (Orleans) is faced with power grid blackouts and shortage of resources due to its remote location. Microgrid energy will not only empower our tribal sovereignty, but provide the safeguards needed to survive along the river. Our people will no longer fear losing their food or vital medical resources, like vaccines, as we have in the past. TERAS is a great example of tribes working together in accomplishing good for their people; we are proud to be a part of this collaborative.”
Yurok Tribe Chairman Joseph L. James shares, “This project dramatically improves energy resiliency on our reservation and represents a major step toward our goal of energy sovereignty. I would like to thank the DOE for the award and our fellow tribes, RCEA, and the Schatz Energy Research Center for working with us to develop a resilient network of tribally owned microgrids to power our homes, schools, government buildings, businesses, and community centers.”
Linnea Jackson, General Manager of the Hoopa Valley Public Utilities District adds, “The Hoopa Valley Tribe is deeply honored to be a part of the Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program along with our esteemed project partners. The Hoopa Valley Tribe has always been a steward of our natural resources, and this award enables us to further our efforts in ensuring tribal energy sovereignty and environmental protection for our community. We look forward to leveraging this opportunity to build a resilient and sustainable energy future for our tribe and beyond.”
A model for rural communities
TERAS will create reliability along the Hoopa 1101 distribution circuit at roughly half the cost of conventional hardening solutions such as undergrounding – and will do so via a partnership that prioritizes intertribal collaboration, tribal capacity building, grid resiliency and decarbonization, and workforce and economic development.
TERAS will advance…
Tribal sovereignty – through tribal construction, ownership, and operation of advanced microgrid systems.
Resilience – with an anticipated 90% reduction in outage hours across the microgrid service area.
Clean energy – via installation of over 20 MW in renewable energy resources.
Career development – through the creation of pre-apprentice and apprentice pathways for tribal members, and access to union apprenticeship programs.
Education – by close collaboration with regional K-12, community college, and university programs to support student outreach and training, and local capacity building.
Administration and timeline
TERAS project work is expected to begin in 2025, and the microgrid systems should be operational within five years. The TERAS project award will be administered by the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA). “RCEA, Humboldt County’s community choice energy provider, is honored to partner with local tribes on TERAS, which will be a major milestone for our clean energy and resilience efforts. We look forward to creating effective strategies to improve community resiliency that can be replicated throughout the nation,” says RCEA Interim Executive Director Eileen Verbeck.
Contact information
Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe: Heidi Moore-Guynup, Director of Tribal and Government Affairs, hguynup@bluelakerancheria-nsn.org or (707) 668-5101 x1045
Hoopa Valley Tribe Public Utilities District: Linnea Jackson, General Manager, gm@hoopavalleypud.com or (530) 625-4543
Karuk Tribe: Sherezada Caballero, Public Relations, scaballero@karuk.us or (530) 643-1702
Yurok Tribe: Matt Mais, Public Relations Director: mmais@yuroktribe.nsn.us or (707) 954-0976
Schatz Energy Research Center: Maia Cheli, Senior Development Manager, schatzenergy@humboldt.edu or (707) 826-4345
Redwood Coast Energy Authority: Eileen Verbeck, Interim Executive Director, outreach@redwoodenergy.org or (707) 291-4588
A new solar microgrid designed by the Schatz Center is expected to be up and running at Cal Poly Humboldt by fall 2025. The microgrid will be a solar+battery system with 2.1 megawatts of AC solar and a 5.8 megawatt battery with 11.6 megawatt-hours of energy storage capacity. This will allow the campus to stay independently powered on clean energy for up to two days, depending on weather conditions. Solar panels will be installed on some campus buildings, and some parking lots, like G11, will have solar canopies covering parking spaces.
Following the unprecedented public safety power shutoff (PSPS) events throughout California in the summer of 2019, Cal Poly Humboldt began considering a microgrid solution for keeping the campus fully powered year-round. A widespread outage caused by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in December 2022 and a multi-week outage in neighboring Del Norte County caused by fires in September 2023 made the importance of campus energy resilience even more clear.
Under normal conditions, the campus microgrid will be able to both generate energy onsite and import energy from the main utility grid. During a local outage, the microgrid will “island” and operate independently of the main power grid to provide ongoing electricity to campus facilities.
Beyond keeping the lights on, the university’s microgrid will be a concrete demonstration of renewable energy, showing students how much power is being generated and stored, and how the microgrid operates.
Students in the School of Engineering and other programs, for example, will have the opportunity to take practical courses that prepare them for careers working with microgrids, resilience, and clean energy systems, and will gain critical skills for responding to our changing world.
Microgrid research and development at the Schatz Center
A new West Coast collaboration for offshore wind science was announced in Sacramento today. The Pacific Offshore Wind Consortium (POWC) is a joint effort between three research centers: the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt, the Pacific Marine Energy Center at Oregon State University, and the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Together, these universities are housed in and support the coastal communities in California and Oregon which are anticipated to host floating offshore wind development. The POWC (pronounced pow-sea) will enable universities, host communities, and Tribal nations to share resources, co-develop best practices, and design comprehensive research programs that reflect the dynamic nature of the ocean environment and the diversity of community perspectives.
The consortium will advance three pillars: (i) research and innovation, (ii) university-level workforce education and professional development, and (iii) community and Tribal engagement and knowledge exchange.
Expertise from three universities
The Schatz Energy Research Center is located in the Humboldt Bay Area, which is preparing to house one of only two feasible staging and integration ports in California for offshore wind deployment. Humboldt is also home to two wind lease areas, which begin 20 miles offshore and span 207 square miles. Since 2018, the Schatz Center has published over 30 reports on topics ranging from transmission expansion to seabird vulnerability, in an effort to understand the feasibility of offshore wind, and to identify critical environmental and community needs that would be associated with its development. The Schatz Center works in close partnership with Tribal Nations, county services, and state government to design innovative solutions for clean power generation and energy resilience.
“We are coming together as a consortium because we know we need to take bold action to address climate change, and offshore wind has potential to play an important role. We also know that the transition to clean energy needs to happen in a way that is inclusive, equitable, and environmentally responsible,” says Arne Jacobson, Director of the Schatz Center. “As universities embedded in the regions where offshore wind is proposed, we have a special role to play, and – working in collaboration with partners – we can help generate the knowledge needed to transform our energy system in a way that does right by our communities and the planet.”
Entrance to Humboldt Bay. Photo by Maia Cheli, 2019.
Environmental research for offshore wind includes baseline surveys, behavioral assessments, data integration and modeling, monitoring for protected species, planned mitigation, pathways for adaptive management, and transfer of lessons learned. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is home to the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, which has a history of interdisciplinary, applied research to address a range of management issues for the Central Coast. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo works collaboratively with a variety of interest groups in the Morro Bay Area to promote and design effective environmental monitoring for offshore wind. The Morro Bay Wind Energy Area covers 376 square miles across three wind lease areas.
“It will be essential that any offshore wind energy projects are developed in environmentally and socially responsible ways,” says Benjamin Ruttenberg, Director of the Center of Coastal Marine Sciences. “While many of the key issues are common across regions, some will be area-specific. The diverse expertise across the POWC institutions, along with their deep understanding of local communities and regional environmental issues, makes this group extremely well-qualified to be a neutral and trusted source to generate and summarize scientific information that can inform and guide the conversations about whether and how to deploy offshore wind.”
Open house for the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences at the Cal Poly Pier. Photo by Dylan Head, Multimedia Producer @ Cal Poly SLO, 2023.
The Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC) at Oregon State University brings over 15 years of experience investigating the technical, environmental, and social dimensions of offshore energy, and expanding scientific understanding, engaging stakeholders, and educating students. The Hatfield Marine Science Center at OSU serves as a hub for research on potential ecological effects of offshore renewable energy, while the PacWave test site demonstrates in-water activities and potential issues associated with offshore energy projects, such as seabed surveys, cable laying, construction and operational noise, and electromagnetic fields (EMF). PMEC also conducts significant hydrodynamic and aerodynamic studies of offshore wind platforms at the Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory. The State of Oregon is now considering how offshore wind could be incorporated with the environment, existing ocean uses, cultures, and communities, as lease sales for offshore floating wind sites are expected in fall 2024.
“This consortium will leverage the experience and expertise of the three partner universities and provide consistency of approach to evaluation of offshore wind along the west coast,” says Sarah Henkel, Associate Director of the Pacific Marine Energy Center at OSU. “We are excited that through this consortium we will have additional support to engage with our local communities, continue our regional ecological investigations, focus on development of next generation platform design, as well as collaborate and share findings to build a comprehensive understanding of outcomes related to potential offshore wind deployment.”
Researchers prepare hydrophones to track movements of tagged Dungeness crabs. Photo by Curtis Roegner (NOAA).
POWC Advisory Committee
The POWC will support interdisciplinary understanding across academia, industry, agencies, community organizations, and Tribal Nations. This breadth is reflected in the consortium’s Advisory Committee, which recently convened for its inaugural meeting. As a non-governing committee, the advisory group will provide guidance and advance discussion and collaboration in the offshore wind space. Founding members include representatives from: Tribal Nations: the Hon. Jason Ramos and Heidi Moore-Guynup, Blue Lake Rancheria, Linnea Jackson, Hoopa Valley Public Utilities District, and Michael Gerace, the Hon. Lana McCovey and the Hon. Philip Williams, Yurok Tribe; State agencies:Jenn Eckerle and Justine Kimball, California Natural Resources Agency / California Ocean Protection Council, Katerina Robinson and Jessica Eckdish, California Energy Commission, Andy Lanier, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, and Jason Sierman, Oregon Department of Energy; Federal labs, agencies, and Sea Grant partnerships: Alicia Mahon, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Karina Nielsen, Oregon Sea Grant, Shauna Oh, California Sea Grant and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Eric P. Bjorkstedt, NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Science Division and Department of Fisheries Biology, Cal Poly Humboldt; Philanthropy:Curtis Seymour, AC Strategies; and the Offshore wind industry: Ciara Emery and Joel Southall, RWE Offshore Wind Holdings, LLC, and Laura Nagy and Erik Peckar, Vineyard Offshore.
“The Blue Lake Rancheria recognises the urgency of the climate crisis and intends to leverage their knowledge and resources to continue to advance clean energy innovations,” says Heidi Moore-Guynup, Director of Tribal and Government Affairs at the Blue Lake Rancheria (BLR). “At the same time, BLR understands the imperative need to coordinate scientific inquiry and research and believes that Traditional Ecological Knowledge must be part of such inquiry. BLR is honored to serve on the POWC advisory committee and looks forward to uplifting the findings of this consortium.”
“Oregon Sea Grant understands the broad spectrum of challenges and opportunities that floating offshore wind energy brings to the US West Coast. There is a clear and urgent need for regional integration of science and knowledge across many disciplines to enable responsible development of offshore wind energy,” said Karina Nielsen, Director of Oregon Sea Grant. “We look forward to partnering with POWC, our sister Sea Grant programs in California and Washington, the National Sea Grant Offshore Wind Energy Liaison, and other partners to support co-developed research and community education to help our coastal communities and marine ecosystems thrive.”
Core Team and Advisory Committee members at the Blue Lake Rancheria in April 2024
POWC funding
Over $12 million in current grant funding, primarily from state and federal agencies, supports offshore renewables research and project work at the three centers. Additionally, the POWC itself has received commitments for $1.6 million in starting funds from private donors and industry.
“Growing an offshore wind industry that’s responsible, equitable and inclusive requires sustained commitments and deep collaboration,” said Alicia Barton, CEO of Vineyard Offshore. “We are delighted to support and participate in the new Pacific Offshore Wind Consortium. Anchored by three world-class research institutions, the Consortium will foster meaningful engagement, research and collaboration within the west coast offshore wind industry. Our partnership in this effort reinforces Vineyard Offshore’s dedication to enhancing opportunities for Tribal Nations, underserved communities, and local businesses while preparing students and others for careers in this burgeoning field.”
“We’re proud to be supporting the world-class research of Cal Poly Humboldt, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Oregon State University and to contribute to an effort that meets the needs of the Humboldt region,” said Sam Eaton, CEO of RWE US Offshore Wind Holdings. “Community engagement is a core principle of RWE’s approach to developing offshore wind projects, including our Canopy Offshore Wind project off of Northern California. The Humboldt community will help us shape this project as well as the future of offshore wind on the Pacific Coast. Offshore wind will play an essential role in our clean energy future, job creation and local economic development, and the Pacific Offshore Wind Consortium’s work will provide valuable insights into the responsible development of this renewable resource.”
Contact
For more information on the POWC and to receive updates, please visit powc.us or contact info@powc.us.
For more information about the three centers and their research programs, visit:
Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt: schatzenergy.org
