State Awards $648500 to Help Prepare Humboldt County Workforce for Offshore Wind Industry - Lost Coast Outpost
State Awards $648,500 to Help Prepare Humboldt County Workforce for Offshore Wind Industry | Lost Coast Outpost | Humboldt County News
An offshore wind turbine’s floating platform being assembled onshore. (For scale, that’s an adult human circled in red in the lower right.) | Screenshot from a Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District video.
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Press release from the California Economic Development Department:
The Employment Development Department (EDD) announced today it has awarded more than $648,000 for the Supply Chain and Worker Readiness Program (the Program), an integral part of Humboldt County’s groundbreaking offshore wind energy project. The Program is designed to facilitate workforce development efforts over the entire offshore wind project lifecycle and will utilize funds for research, community preparation, and workforce partner development. The funding will also be applied towards the education and capacity building of local businesses to meet Humboldt County’s long-term workforce needs while this new industry is established.
“This offshore wind project will give regional workers access to industry-focused training, supportive services, and employment opportunities,” said EDD Director Nancy Farias. “As our economy evolves, EDD and its regional workforce development partners are focused on preparing California’s workforce for these new opportunities.”
The Program will be administered by Humboldt County’s Economic Development Division in tandem with the Humboldt County Workforce Development Board (WDB). WDB staff will work with program beneficiaries to develop an emerging offshore wind workforce by connecting beneficiaries with partner grants, loans, and technical assistance. While offshore wind is expected to create jobs within construction and skilled trades, such as manufacturing, fabrication, welding, construction, and safety, it also has the potential to grow other local industries including medical, housing and childcare.
To meet the extensive demands of the long-term offshore wind project, the Program will provide supportive services to Humboldt County as it strategically plans to integrate this new industry into its community. Specialized training and education will be made available through partnerships with Cal Poly Humboldt, College of the Redwoods, and labor unions. These programs will provide direct path opportunities that transition participants into employment with businesses that are part of the offshore wind system supply chain. In addition, the Program will support widespread community education and outreach pertaining to offshore wind energy.
Funding for this grant was provided through the discretionary funds made available to Governor Gavin Newsom in accordance with the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and administered by the EDD and the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency.
For more information on this Program, contact Humboldt County’s Economic Development Division Director Scott Adair at 1-707-476-4800.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.