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Would the Humboldt offshore wind project create new jobs?

Building and operating the Humboldt offshore wind farm would require many different kinds of workers. According to offshorefacts.org, new jobs created by offshore wind throughout the State could include (1):

  • Development: Jobs associated with site assessment, plant design, permitting, environmental science & surveying, financing, project management, and other pre-construction activities.

  • Manufacturing and supply chain: Jobs from design and engineering of components, to production of parts, to the assembling of the components.

  • Ports and staging: Jobs such as terminal crews, logistics, and management roles located portside.

  • Maritime construction: Jobs operating at sea to install projects, including the marine crew, engineers, and installation crews.

  • Operations and maintenance (O&M): Jobs that involve operating and maintaining a project during its lifetime, including turbine technicians and plant managers, as well as vessel operators and crew.

Two engineers in hard hats and safety vests working on an offshore wind turbine.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy (13)

The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation & Conservation District (Harbor District) has already entered into a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) (2) with local building and construction unions in order to ensure there is a preference for hiring from local communities, Tribal communities, and union members. On the East Coast, Vineyard Offshore (3) promised in a PLA to hire 500 union jobs as part of the Vineyard Wind 1 project (4). In December 2023, they announced that they had already employed 937 union members (5) and created 103 union job years (6) for that one project. In May 2024, as a part of its proposed Canopy Offshore Wind Farm (7) in Humboldt, RWE (8) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (9) with the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, which is a precursor to a future PLA that affirms the commitment of both parties to including Tribal Nations in that PLA. The Biden Administration is strongly supportive of union jobs and local hiring preferences, and, in fact, requires PLAs (10) for all large-scale federal infrastructure projects like offshore wind farms and heavy lift terminals.

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Developing a local workforce would require training and education. As reported (11) by the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt in 2020, “at the Pacific Ocean Energy Trust’s California Offshore Wind Energy Summit in 2018, labor researcher Robert Collier noted that the key is in the details — while there is promise for jobs generally, logistics such as local expertise really determines how many local and permanent jobs might exist with a project. He cautioned attendees to consider all the logistics in the matter, including the current state of the port of Humboldt Bay and costs for its infrastructure upgrades — especially in light of past ‘boom and bust’ industries that have already affected workers in the area.” Cal Poly Humboldt, College of the Redwoods, and the Yurok Tribe announced in 2023 (12) that they would partner to develop job training opportunities for locals.

References​

  1. Offshore Wind Facts. (2024). Jobs & Workforce Development. https://offshorewindfacts.org/report/jobs-workforce-development/ 

  2. Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District. (2023, August 3). Project Labor Agreement by and Between the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District and State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, Building and Construction Trades Council of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties and the Signatory Craft Councils and Unions. Lost Coast Outpost. https://lostcoastoutpost.com/loco-media/loco-media/blog/post/37340/Humboldt%2BBay%2BPLA%2B8.3.23.clean.pdf

  3. Vineyard Offshore. (n.d.). www.vineyardoffshore.com/ 

  4. Vineyard Wind. (n.d.). Nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project. www.vineyardwind.com/vineyardwind-1 

  5. Offshore Engineer. (2023, December 29). Vineyard Wind 1 Offshore Wind Project Delivers Almost Double Union Hiring Target. www.oedigital.com/news/510453-vineyard-wind-1-offshore-wind-project-delivers-almost-double-union-hiring-target 

  6. Vineyard Wind. (2023, November). Vineyard Wind 1 Impact on Jobs and Economic Output: Annual Report 2. https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:f03adc3e-4a77-4ca4-8003-8258b7cfb352 

  7. RWE. (2024). Canopy Offshore Wind Farm. https://canopyoffshorewind.com/Home 

  8. RWE. (2024). https://americas.rwe.com/our-energy/offshore-wind/ 

  9. RWE. (2024, May 17). Canopy Offshore Wind Farm Announces Early Partnership with State Building Trades, Underscoring Commitment to Create Career Opportunities for Local Communities & Tribal Nations. https://canopyoffshorewind.com/-/media/Project/Team/Canopy/press-and-news/2024-05-17-canopy-offshore-wind-farm-announces-early-partnership/2024-05-17-canopy-offshore-wind-farm-announces-early-partnership.pdf

  10. The White House. (2023, December 18). Fact Sheet: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces Action to Support Economic and Efficient Construction Projects While Creating Good-Paying and Union Jobs. www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2023/12/18/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-action-to-support-economic-and-efficient-construction-projects-while-creating-good-paying-and-union-jobs/

  11. Schatz Energy Research Center. (2020, September). California North Coast Offshore Wind Studies Stakeholder Benefits and Concerns. https://schatzcenter.org/pubs/2020-OSW-R21.pdf 

  12. Cal Poly Humboldt. (2023, February 16). Offshore Wind Workforce to be Trained by Cal Poly Humboldt, Yurok Tribe, and College of the Redwoods. Humboldt NOW. https://now.humboldt.edu/news/offshore-wind-workforce-be-trained-cal-poly-humboldt-yurok-tribe-and-college-redwoods

  13. U.S. Department of Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office. (2015, February 12). New Model Demonstrates Offshore Wind Industry’s Job Growth Potential. www.energy.gov/eere/wind/articles/new-model-demonstrates-offshore-wind-industrys-job-growth-potential

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