Offshore wind energy in Southern Oregon moving forward

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, recently announced the next steps for developing floating wind facilities off the coast of Coos Bay and Brookings. These Oregon offshore wind projects could power more than one million homes with renewable energy, according to the agency. Still, tribal leaders and commercial fishing groups remain concerned about how the projects could affect the ecosystem. We hear more about the latest developments from OPB climate reporter Monica Samayoa.

Note: The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer.

Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. Offshore wind energy is inching closer to being a reality in Oregon. In February, the federal government finalized the boundaries for where wind projects could be sited off the coasts of Coos Bay and Brookings. Last week, the feds proposed an auction for project developers. These projects could power more than a million homes with renewable energy. But tribal leaders and commercial fishing groups remain concerned about how the projects could affect marine life and their livelihoods. They say their concerns are being ignored. OPB climate reporter Monica Samayoa has been covering the story for months now and she joins us with the latest. It’s good to have you back.

Monica Samayoa: Hey, thanks for inviting me back.

Miller: Can you give us a sense for the scale of what’s under consideration?

Samayoa: I’ll start with a bit of context first. The Biden administration has a goal to create 45 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2035. And that’s the equivalent of powering about 15 million homes with renewable energy. And wind energy as a renewable source is what some environmentalists call low hanging fruit. While the wind isn’t blowing all the time and it varies during the day, it’s out there, we can harness it, we can use it to power our homes, or we can store it for later use.

It’s also one of the ways Oregon expects to hit their renewable energy goals. According to the Oregon Department of Energy, Oregon needs to develop 20,000 megawatts of offshore wind to meet the state’s 100% renewable energy goals. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, I’ll just call them BOEM from now on, announced earlier this year about 200,000 acres off the coast of Coos Bay and Brookings for potential floating offshore wind development. So those areas could provide up to three gigawatts of power. And as you just mentioned, and according to BOEM, can power up to a million homes.

So while it’s not a big chunk of Biden’s goal, it’s definitely a lot for Oregon. I’ll point out that it’s not known how much electricity or power Oregon will receive from these turbines, or if we’ll get any at all. Also, the proposed area shrunk a lot since BOEM first put out a draft a while ago. It used to be more than 1 million acres because of the state. But because of state, county, and community concerns about where the potential turbines would go or how it would impact fisheries, local communities and the environment, it was reduced significantly.

Miller: The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians have been really clear about their opposition, especially to the way this process has unfolded. They called it “green colonialism.” What are their specific concerns?

Samayoa: For the tribes and for many local residents, their concerns are the same. They all want more information about what the environmental, cultural, and community impacts will be. Other concerns include what impacts the turbines might cause to viewpoints that are culturally important to the tribes. In December, I went to Coos Bay, and I met with the tribes and spoke with tribal council chair Brad Kneaper. And he told me that the tribes have been sharing their concerns with BOEM since 2020. And according to Kneaper, those concerns have pretty much fallen on deaf ears. They went from wanting to learn more, to now limiting their support and calling for a delay in moving forward until they learn more about what floating offshore wind will mean for the community.

He also said something interesting to me, which was renewable energy shouldn’t do more harm than good to the current environment. And what he meant by that was we shouldn’t destroy the current environment to find a solution to our current situation, which is to transition away from fossil fuels. An example would be electric vehicle manufacturing, and how mining is destructive to the earth, and how mining is often on tribal lands. Ultimately, he asked a question that I’m sure many of us are asking themselves as we are figuring out how to transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, which is “how do you weigh the consequences against the benefits, and do the benefits outweigh the consequences?”

Miller: What about local crabbers and fishermen? What did you hear from them?

Samayoa: I connected with a lot of them, and their main concerns are the fishing grounds and their livelihoods. There is a huge abundance of different fish species along the Oregon coast, from Dungeness crab to cocktail shrimp, to bottom fish like rockfish. I learned that there’s a lot of fishing along the Oregon coast and it’s a large ecosystem, and many of the different species get exported around the world. It’s a huge industry, and many people are afraid that they’ll lose their jobs. Some have told me, despite BOEM significantly reducing the area 800,000 acres, they feel that the area is still too large and that it’s in prime fishing areas. They worry that the turbines or the boats used to bring the materials in and out of the sea might disturb fish habitats. And they want the federal government to avoid those highly populated areas. They question if the turbines can withstand the high seas and the high winds of the ocean, and if they’d be able to withstand the salt corrosion.

What I learned though is that local crabbers and the fishing industry has been very involved and has participated in public meetings and public comments to BOEM. And I think it shows, especially because BOEM did significantly reduce the proposed area from a million to 200,000.

Miller: Are there any local voices in favor of offshore wind power right now?

Samayoa: Yeah. The biggest reason I heard from those [in favor of] moving forward [is] because of climate change. They told me we can’t hit pause, and if Oregon wants to meet its goals, it has to get this process going ASAP. So there are local people that want this going and they want this to move forward, and are very concerned about the impacts of climate change.

Miller: What might these projects mean in terms of local jobs? Both shorter term construction ones and longer term positions?

Samayoa: It’s still up in the air, and it’s not for sure known what jobs this will bring and how many. And that’s going to be up to the developers and how they plan on getting this going. One option to ensure that there will be jobs is through a community benefits agreement. So a developer can create a contract with local unions to hire their workers when it comes to electrical and construction jobs. And for those longer term jobs, that they can ensure hiring some maintenance roles. So as of now, it’s not entirely clear. But as this continues, I imagine we’re going to learn more about that.

Miller: Last year, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said that she wanted the federal government to do more research on the various impacts of offshore wind. What’s she saying now?

Samayoa: She’s still calling on more research on environmental, wildlife, and cultural impacts. And again, more community engagement. So in April, Kotek sent a letter to BOEM’s director, requesting that the federal agency ensure that these local communities are at the forefront of the economic workforce as well as engagement. I’ve also learned that Kotek’s team has been meeting with many local residents, state agencies, environmental organizations, to hear about those concerns, talk about possible solutions moving forward and really just helping create a dialogue on how everyone can work together on this.

Miller: A few months ago the governor signed a bill that lawmakers passed to create what people are calling a state roadmap for offshore wind. What does that actually mean?

Samayoa: So that’s House Bill 4080. And basically, it’s creating a number of guidelines for how BOEM and the state should or could move forward with offshore winds. So for example, that could be creating labor and supply chain standards, like the community benefits agreement that I mentioned. Supporting more engagement with communities, tribes, and organizations. And what state policies can be used as soon as a developer submits a plan to see, can the state move forward with this?

But one of the things that I thought was most interesting is that the roadmap will have exit ramps. Basically, those are the checks and balances throughout the project to allow for a re-evaluation, or even a pause. If, for example, there’s an economic situation, the state can say, “we don’t have the funds for this” or “we don’t want to do this anymore.” These are the next steps we’re going to take to begin removal if they’ve already started with a project, and where to go from there.

Miller: One of the biggest concerns put forward by many different opponents, as you were saying before, is that they feel like they haven’t had enough meaningful input. If I understand correctly though, this federal agency BOEM, they’re basically saying “Don’t worry, we’re still in the early stages. There are going to be plenty more opportunities for you to weigh in in meaningful ways.” What are the next steps?

Samayoa: There’s plenty of opportunity for public comment. Right now, BOEM announced that it’s accepting bids from developers. That’s it. Nothing is going to be made. Nothing is set in stone, or steel. In October, BOEM will announce who the winning bidder is and announce a final sale notice. That’s another opportunity for public comment, but again, nothing is being built. The final sale means that the winning bidder or developer will now have the time it needs to conduct an environmental assessment, show their plans, do their own research, and then share that with BOEM, and then again, another public process.

Miller: And at that point, it would be “we want to put this many turbines in these particular places.” And then the public could actually see what the actual proposed project is?

Samayoa: Yes. So that’s something that the community has been asking for, and has been used to. If I could just share a little bit more information, a few years ago, I’m not too familiar with the timeline, they were proposed the Jordan Cove project. They had all those plans.

Miller: The liquefied natural gas import/export project.

Samayoa: Right. And so they had all those details in front of them, and they knew what those environmental impacts would be. And so that’s what this community is asking for. They want to see what those details are. But what’s difficult is that since there is no developer at the moment, there is no plan, BOEM can’t speculate and say this is what’s going to be there.

Miller: Do you have a sense then for the time frame? When might a developer actually get a lease and have all this in place? And let’s say that it all checks out, when might there be turbines in the water?

Samayoa: By the end of the decade. I’ll do my best to kind of do a timeline according to BOEM. Once a developer has been selected, they have a year to submit plans in the areas that they hope to build, what we were just talking about. After that, two to five years to do surveys and assessments. How would this turbine do here? How will the cables from point A and point B be connected, and do more environmental assessments. Then they have another five years to submit what BOEM calls a construction and operations plan. And from there, BOEM conducts their own technical and environmental reviews, and that’ll be another two year process. So then there comes an approval. And basically, if a developer follows that timeline, maybe they can start construction in 2029, 2030. So it’s still a long process until we see anything happen in the ocean.

Miller: Monica, thanks very much.

Samayoa: Thank you.

Miller: Monica Samayoa is OPB’s climate reporter.

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