Offshore wind energy represents economic opportunity for California

As offshore wind activity heats up on the East Coast, there’s also growing interest in developing floating offshore wind projects off the West Coast. While there are currently no federal wind energy leases on the West Coast, the federal government recently received interest from 14 companies to develop off California’s coast, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) plans to auctionCalifornia lease areas sometime next year. Just like the on the East Coast, developing this new ocean energy resource out West could create thousands of jobs and new manufacturing opportunities, and now a new study by Energy + Environmental Economics (E3) finds offshore wind could save Californians money as well. The report, The Economic Value of Offshore Wind Power in California, evaluates the economic opportunity of offshore wind in California, and found that building 7 to 9 gigawatts (GW) of floating offshore wind off the coast of California could save ratepayers up to $2 billion on a net present value basis by 2040.