The Port San Luis Harbor District postponed talking about a $3 million state grant for offshore wind planning after more than 80 community members showed up at its Nov. 18 board meeting, exceeding the meeting room’s capacity.
The grant, which the district already applied for, would be provided by the California Energy Commission through the Offshore Wind Waterfront Facility Improvement Program and is intended to advance planning for an industrial operations and maintenance port to support potential offshore wind development.
“What our grant would do is give us the resources to study the feasibility of an operations and maintenance facility to potentially support future offshore wind,” Harbor District Director Will Friedman said.
He said that if the Harbor District votes to accept the grant, it wouldn’t preempt any future decisions about constructing an offshore wind facility.
“I think some people are concerned that this means the Harbor District would be committing to move forward with development, but that’s not the case,” he said. “It’s not a commitment. It’s not binding the Harbor District to move ahead with the project in any way.”
According to the Harbor District’s Nov. 18 staff report, the grant is intended to expand the district’s capacity to oversee planning for a potential operations and maintenance terminal, deepen local community and tribal engagement, mature proposed engineering designs, and identify workforce development and supply chain opportunities for residents and businesses.
The discussion about offshore wind on the Central Coast has been contentious, with local advocates expressing opposition. Mandy Davis, president of the nonprofit REACT Alliance, said the Central Coast is not suitable for industrial offshore wind infrastructure.
“Our harbors are small and beautiful. They support tourism, fishing, and the lifestyle we love,” Davis said. “Building industrial ports for offshore wind could destroy the very essence of our coastline. The public deserves to understand what is happening before decisions are made.”
Davis also questioned the timing of the grant, noting that two feasibility studies are still underway and that the port should wait until those are done.
“Accepting this $3 million grant now could be interpreted as approval for a project before the community has had a chance to weigh in,” she said.
Davis added that the offshore wind industry remains in a preliminary stage.
“They don’t even really know the design of the turbines,” she said. “They don’t know the design of the substations, and they don’t even really know exactly the design of the industrial ports because it’s all up in the air.”
San Luis Obispo resident Robert Sidenberg took to Nextdoor to start a petition advocating that people “say no” to the Port San Luis operations and maintenance project.
“Accepting these funds would indicate that Port San Luis supports such industrialization, yet there has been zero community outreach to learn what the people want!” he said. “We were promised robust community outreach as part of that study—yet no community outreach has occurred! And that study is still ongoing.”
The next Harbor District meeting hasn’t been scheduled yet, but officials confirmed that it will be held in a larger facility within the next few weeks to ensure public participation. ∆
This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 7, 2025.
This report presents only one side of the story. REACT is closely linked with fossil-fuel–funded groups such as CFACT, which deny human-driven climate change and its impacts.
I want to be clear that I have no financial interest in offshore wind. I support this work because I care deeply about climate change, ocean health, and the future we’re leaving our children and grandchildren.
The claim that “the offshore wind industry remains in a preliminary stage” is simply inaccurate. No designs have been selected because that’s the entire purpose of a feasibility study—we don’t yet know whether Port San Luis is a viable location. What is known is that the port would not be industrialized. That suggestion is a scare tactic. At most, one existing pier would need reinforcement to accommodate a 250–300-foot maintenance vessel that would head out to the turbines roughly every two weeks. All other facilities would be located offsite.
Accepting this grant does not signal support for industrialization. It simply shows that the Commission is willing to study the facts and explore whether supporting offshore wind is even possible here.
Finally, opponents claim there hasn’t been any outreach. Outreach comes after there is something concrete for the public to review. This grant is what will fund that outreach, along with environmental analysis and engineering work.
I find it fascinating that none of the many people who were there in support were given an opportunity to comment.
Please read this petition for the other side of the story. https://c.org/qGKnZKpKxv
REACT has no such affiliation. That is a complete lie. What IS a lie is that this project is green. Endless diesel burned to support these 1000 ft towers that will be in 35-40 ft swells from time to time. Plastics shedding into the critical upwelling area, the danger of blades flying off as in Nantucket shutting down their beaches for months. Can you imagine moonstone beach or the rookery being covered in broken sharp plastic shards? I could go on and on but the NGO’s here are green washing this thing even on Cal Poly’s campus. Shameful!!
Please attend the Port San Luis Harbor District Special Meeting on TUESDAY DECEMBER 2nd at 9:00am at the Avila Beach Community Center, 191 San Miguel St in Avila Beach. SAY NO to industrializing our beautiful Port San Luis!
IMPORTANT MEETING NOTICE. PLEASE ATTEND!
SPECIAL PORT SAN LUIS HARBOR DISTRICT MEETING
TUESDAY DECEMBER 2 AT 9:00 am
AVILA BEACH COMMUNITY CENTER
191 SAN MIGUEL STREET, AVILA BEACH
SHOW UP TO TELL THE PORT DISTRICT TO SAVE PORT SAN LUIS AND STOP THE OFFSHORE WIND FARM OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PORT PROJECT!
Good news for our central California coastal communities! Clean Energy Terminals (CET) terminated its agreement with Port San Luis Harbor District. Kudos to the PSL Harbor District for pressing pause on this project and listening to their constituents. We will continue to fight the state on its efforts to shove this offshore wind boondoggle down our throats.