Ed Roggenkamp Comments on California Offshore Wind Plan

Ed Roggenkamp was quoted in the Law360 article, “Calif. Offshore Wind Push Won't Be Smooth Sailing.” The article provides an overview of recent steps taken by the Biden administration and the state of California to encourage offshore wind development along the California Coast. Plans include leasing federal waters capable of generating 4.6 gigawatts of wind power.

Law360 states that industry watchers note the agreement is a “step on a very long road” – a road that will be even longer “than the road to develop offshore wind on the Atlantic coast.”

Commenting on the matter, Ed said, "It's still a very early step, and there's a lot of work to do before there's actually steel in the water."

For this endeavor, industry and government official are relying on technology such as floating offshore wind turbines connected to the seabed by underwater cables. The technology has only been tested in a handful of smaller projects outside the U.S.

Discussing the viability of this technology, Ed stated, "It's never been done in the U.S., and never been done at full, utility-scale development…that technological challenge is going to be a big one."