Offshore wind is moving forward along the West Coast, even as the Trump administration has put up hurdles. Despite those delays, companies are continuing to plan for the large, floating wind farms.
Coastal towns are seeking to reap the economic rewards of this likely construction boom through community benefit agreements, deals that can include workforce training, local investments or even direct payments.
Researchers from Oregon State University, working with partners from the Schatz Energy Research Center at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, and several other universities, are studying how communities view the agreements tied to offshore wind projects.
“These community benefit agreements were starting to get integrated into potential policy action,” said Julia Bingham, a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University. “They were part of an option for developers to get bidding credits in offshore wind lease areas during the leasing process.”
All five of the companies that secured offshore wind leases in California’s 2022 auction committed millions of dollars toward community benefit agreements as part of their bids.
For example, California North Floating LLC, which leased an area off the coast of Eureka, committed $6.7 million towards a community benefit agreement. According to the lease, the company is expected to sign an agreement that helps address the impacts on nearby communities.
“On the West Coast, offshore wind was a little farther behind,” said Bingham. “We wanted to use this as an opportunity to see what we've learned so far with using community benefit agreements and assess where West Coast communities were at with their needs and how that tool might or might not fit into that process.”
Researchers focused on two groups: leaders who might have a role in negotiating these agreements and community members more broadly.
“We went and knocked on people's doors, and a lot of people don't expect that anymore,” said Lauren Hart, a graduate research assistant at the Schatz Energy Research Center. “It brought about some really fun conversations.”
Researchers are still analyzing the data and have not reached final conclusions. But early findings suggest that many small communities may not have the capacity for this work.
“Most of them are smaller, more rural, and so engaging in offshore wind-related conversations were already pretty draining,” said Bingham. “The idea of having to have the people and resources and expertise involved to effectively engage in a community benefit agreement process is a little daunting, so that seems consistent.”
Bingham said the research found communities in California were generally more positive about offshore wind and community benefit agreements than those in Oregon and Washington. But many people across the West Coast are still unsure, and many feel overwhelmed by the amount of information.
“Some of it contradicts each other, depending on the source,” said Bingham. “Folks aren't really sure where to go.”
Bingham and the other researchers have been taking their initial findings to some of these communities to present what they’ve learned so far and get feedback. That includes a recent presentation in Eureka that drew a crowd of around 100.
Hart said attendees were grateful to have a space to learn from one another and hear different perspectives on offshore wind. Many community members also said they want more resources to help them negotiate community benefit agreements with multinational energy companies.
“That's been part of our goal all along,” Bingham said. “To take what we're learning, especially from what's already happened on the East Coast, to be able to give some recommendations and essentially a toolkit for communities.”
Federal funding cuts have made the timeline for developing a toolkit uncertain, forcing researchers to seek local funding. Bingham said they hope to complete their analysis by late spring and to have a toolkit available in the summer.
They also plan to hold more presentations like the one in Eureka, especially once they have a toolkit to share.
