Governor Newsom signs bill to procure Californian offshore wind at scale

The Governor’s action follows last month’s approval by the State Senate and Assembly of the legislation, which authorises the California Public Utilities Commission to work with the Department of Water Resources to purchase large-scale, long lead-time renewable resources such as offshore wind to drive economies of scale, ensure the lowest cost to ratepayers, and help the state meet its climate, clean-energy and grid-reliability goals. 

Industry trade group Offshore Wind California (OWC), said California “is setting course to be a global leader and hub for floating offshore wind.” Signing the legislation underscores California’s commitment to ‘go big’ on offshore wind to help meet its ambitious climate, clean-energy, and grid-reliability goals.

OWC executive director Adam Stern said, “We praise Governor Newsom and the State Assembly and Senate for their leadership in advancing this ground-breaking legislation.

“AB 1373 will provide a vital tool to help the Golden State invest at scale, build at scale, and procure at scale for the long lead-time renewable resources it needs to strengthen its clean-power portfolio and achieve its SB 100 goal of 100% clean electricity by 2045. 

“Procuring at scale is one of the key steps California needs to ensure a clear path to market and bring offshore wind online. Now we must move forward to invest in port upgrades and transmission, set a clear permitting roadmap, build a robust supply chain and workforce training, engage key stakeholders, and identify suitable sea space to achieve the state’s goal of 25 GW of floating offshore wind by 2045. We look forward to seeing the California Energy Commission’s AB 525 strategic plan for offshore wind this fall.”