As we know, California is exciting the offshore wind world with it\u2019s floating wind opportunities, but the regulatory journey will be complex. Our regulatory and permitting expert, with many years of experience in consenting energy and infrastructure projects in California, had some thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“After working in the offshore wind industry for years, this week I attended my first Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) California Renewable Energy Intergovernmental Task Force meeting. With over 38 governmental agencies represented, and 300+ stakeholders and interested parties attending via conference call it was an informative call, but also a reminder of what it\u2019s like to site and permit an infrastructure project in California. This was the third Task Force meeting since its establishment in 2016 and discussions were centrally focused on the progress since the last meeting in 2018, the status of the Area Identification process (mainly Central Coast considerations), and discussion of next steps. Having supported several successful renewable energy and marine infrastructure projects through the Federal and State regulatory and permitting processes in California, I know that although frameworks follow a similar approach to the Northeast states, developers familiar with what is happening now on the east coast may be surprised to find a somewhat different overall experience in California.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n