Other Natural Resouces Issues - League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County

HomeOther Natural Resouces Issues

Other Issues Being Monitored by the Natural Resources Committee

Off-Shore Wind Projects

The US has an offshore wind energy goal of 30 gigawatts by 2030. The Department of Defense, U.S. Department of the Interior and the state of California agreed to advance the Humboldt and Morro Bay areas for floating offshore wind energy development. The 376 square-mile Morro Bay area is estimated to produce up to 3 gigawatts of energy at peak production and could also count toward 2% of 145 gigawatts needed to achieve California’s mandated goal of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045.

The Tribune hosted a virtual informational panel event on November 19, 2021 to discuss the potential offshore wind energy development coming to the Central Coast. The discussion included the suitability of the area due to wind patterns and transmission infrastructure; the possibility of constructing a wind port which would require local multi-jurisdictional resources; impacts to the fishing community; interaction between possible wind generation and the Chumash marine sanctuary; and potential environmental impacts.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held an offshore wind energy lease sale on Dec. 6, 2022, for areas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off central and northern California. Leases stipulate that lessees must engage with Tribes, ocean users, and local communities that may be affected by their lease activities and include early and active information sharing, focused discussion of potential issues, and collaborative identification of solutions. These activities must be routinely reported to BOEM. See the BOEM website for project updates here.

More information on this issue is available from the Regional Economic Action Coalition.

Energy Storage

Pecho Energy Storage

Pecho LD Energy Storage, LLC, a joint venture of Hydrostor, Inc. and Meridiam Infrastructure Partners, has filed an application for certification with the California Energy Commission (CEC) for construction of a 400 megawatt facility to store and retrieve energy from intermittent renewable sources, to be located at the base of Hollister Peak in the Chorro Valley. The application is still under review. The CEC recently completed a data adequacy review and determined that the application does not meet all of the requirements listed in the California Code of Regulations, title 20, section 1704, Appendix B.

The proposed location is just inside the Coastal Zone boundary and therefore any county action can be appealed to the Coastal Commission. The Coastal Commission has already issued a stop work order for un-permitted activities on the proposed site and there may be some issues with the proposed location on prime agricultural land. An application to the County has not yet been filed but committee members will continue to monitor.

See the California Energy Commission website here for more information.

Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary

On behalf of a broad community consortium, the Northern Chumash Tribal Council (NCTC) submitted the sanctuary nomination in July 2015, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is considering sanctuary designation to protect the region’s important marine ecosystem, maritime heritage resources, and cultural values of Indigenous communities.

In August 2023, NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries released a draft management plan, draft environmental impact statement, proposed regulations and proposed boundaries. NOAA has invited public comment on the draft documents, and will consider all comments submitted by October 25, 2023. NOAA is hosting in-person and virtual workshops, as well as public comment meetings, on various dates in September and October 2023.

For further information and to see the draft documents, including a map of the proposed boundaries, visit NOAA's website here.