Morro Bay residents will soon have a closer look at state and federal legislation involving offshore wind energy developments, thanks to new changes to city policy.
The City Council unanimously adopted resolutions at its April 11 meeting that will allow for the notification of any policy changes or proposals taking place at local, state, and federal meetings. The council also voted to send Mayor Carla Wixom and Councilmember Zara Landrum to represent the city at the upcoming Pacific Offshore Wind Summit in early May.
“The goal of the resolutions is to make sure that the powers that be understand we want a seat at the table and be part of the process of what might affect the city of Morro Bay,” Wixom told New Times.
Wixom, who serves as the head of the Morro Bay subcommittee on Offshore Wind Energy, has handled the city’s involvement with energy companies since December 2022, when the U.S. Bureau of Offshore Energy Management held a sale for commercial wind farm leases in the Pacific Ocean. And the city’s involvement, she says, hasn’t really been established thus far, at least by some of the energy companies.
“Since that sale was approved and coordinated, only one of those companies has reached out to us thus far,” she said. “With these resolutions in place, we can make it clear to them that we want to be in the know if it affects our city.”
The effects on the city itself could potentially be nonexistent or at least very minimal, as Morro Bay does not have the deep water required for effective wind farms in the bay itself, according to Wixom. But that isn’t to say the city wouldn’t be impacted by the infrastructure required to run wind farms outside of the city.
The Offshore Wind Coastal Protection Act, Assembly Bill 80 authored by Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay), is one of the bills currently moving through the state Legislature. It would create the Offshore Wind Coastal Compensation Fund to mitigate the effects that potential wind farm developments could have on the Pacific Ocean’s ecosystem and local economies.
Another bill, AB 525 signed into effect by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2021, requires the California Energy Commission to develop plans for development of wind energy off the California coast in federal waters. That planning could impact Morro Bay with its inclusion of recommendations to update ports, upgrades to and investments in transmission to ensure delivery of wind farm energy, and permitting and environmental impact on coastal resources.
However, along with the potential commerce that such laws could bring, there does come controversy, as several citizens at previous City Council meetings have voiced concern that Morro Bay involvement with the offshore wind farms could turn the city into an industrial harbor.
While Mayor Wixom and the council have expressed understanding of residents’ concerns, they’ve said that the best way to alleviate such concerns is through increased updates from the government at the city, state, and federal level.
“As a council, we just want to know that there aren’t bills or environmental regulations we were not informed of,” Wixom said. “The whole goal is really just to make sure people know what is really going on and are educated on the impact it could have so they can be part of that process.”
Residents like Mary Garelick also support the idea of providing the Morro Bay community with a more consistent flow of information.
“The key to bringing prosperity to the city would be to improve the community involvement and education process,” Garelick said via public correspondence. “I know that these projects are controversial … but I believe they offer a great opportunity to bring more and higher paying jobs to the city.”
The potential of those higher paying jobs have other citizens, like Marlys McPherson, seeing opportunities for offshore wind farm infrastructure to make Morro Bay less reliant on tourism.
“[We need to] stay engaged with the federal wind energy project off Morro Bay’s coast to take advantage of economic development opportunities appropriate for the city,” McPherson said via public correspondence. “Similar to diversifying our water resources … it is risky to rely so heavily on tourism as the main source of revenues.”
Ultimately, regardless of how the city ends up involved with the offshore wind farm plans, Mayor Wixom told New Times that she wants Morro Bay involved in and informed on every aspect of the process.
“All of us in the city are stakeholders,” she said. “Whether they bring things into Morro Bay or not, we just want to be in the know—everyone should have knowledge of these things as they happen.” Δ
This article appears in Apr 13-23, 2023.