CEC Approves Plan to Purchase Offshore Wind Power

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a procurement plan that includes up to 7.6 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power. The decision is part of the state’s plan for centralized procurement of electricity from capital-intensive projects with long lead-times.

In addition to offshore wind, the plan includes 1 GW of power from geothermal power plants in the Imperial Valley and 2 GW of long-duration storage in San Diego County.

The decision implements AB 1373, which authorizes the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) to serve as a central procurement entity to procure diverse and clean energy resources until 2035. The procurement function is intended to help the state meet its renewable and zero-carbon energy resources and reliability goals. (Clean Energy Procurement Mechanism Enacted.)

Central procurement is critical to the state’s goal to achieve 100 percent zero-carbon and renewable energy resources by 2045. It is particularly critical to offshore wind development, as developers have not moved projects forward since the offshore lease auction in December 2022 and are waiting for a procurement plan.