Forum scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Swallow Creek Ranch in Cayucos
A local environmental group fighting to stop an offshore floating wind energy project is sponsoring a forum and fundraiser in November.
The “Responsible Energy Adaptation for California’s Transition,” or REACT Alliance, is hosting “Shining the Light on Offshore Wind: Illuminating Environmental, Economic, and Community Impacts,” set for 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Swallow Creek Ranch in Cayucos.
The REACT Alliance said in a news release, “The forum is intended to inform and educate people of the Central Coast about proposed offshore wind energy development off our coast and in our communities.”
Four people will speak at the forum: energy economist Dr. David Henderson; physicist and whale behavior expert Dr. C. Michael Hogan; Bonnie Brady, the CEO of the Long Island Fishing Association; and Morro Bay City Councilmember Zara Landrum.
After the speeches, the speakers will take questions, followed by a wine and cheese reception with live music by local favorite Jill Knight.
Tickets for the event are $33 a person and available online at My805tix.com.
Swallow Creek Ranch is a rustic wedding and event center located off Highway 1 north of Cayucos (opposite Estero Bluffs State Park).
Visit REACTalliance.org for more information on the group and its fight against the OSW projects.
Three companies won lease auctions for a roughly 400-square-mile patch of ocean, 20-30 miles offshore from San Simeon. The three, 80,000-acre lease sites are slated to install 1 gigawatt of wind turbines floating in very deep water — 800-1,300 meters.
However in recent information that’s come out, the three companies have talked about each installing 2 gigawatts of turbines, expected at this point to be 20 megawatts each.
Transmission cables buried in the seafloor would carry the energy to shore in a wide swath through the ocean to Morro Bay or potentially down around Point Buchon to Diablo Canyon (or both) and connect with the state’s energy grid.
Both Diablo Canyon and the old Morro Bay Power Plant have access on existing substations to handle some of this load (potentially 6 gigawatts total), but expansion of the substations would be needed at that higher power generating level.
Those substations could either be floating on the ocean or on land. One study said each project would need additional substation/maintenance yard of 10-12 acres.
REACT Alliance holds monthly general meetings the first Wednesday of the month from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Benedict Center (the former Benedict-Rettey Mortuary), 1401 Quintana Road in Morro Bay. Visit reactalliance.org for more information.
Feature Image: Photos from Hywind Tampen, June 2023.
