The Stakes: Federal grant cut threatens Humboldt Bay project and Richmond’s hope to join it

Last in a two-part series on Richmond’s exploration into wind turbine manufacturing. This series is part of “The Stakes,” a UC Berkeley Journalism project on executive orders and actions affecting Californians and their communities.

The Trump Administration is putting a dent in Richmond’s plans to assemble offshore wind turbines, following an onslaught of actions against clean energy. 

Richmond has hoped to assemble turbines for the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation & Conservation District in Eureka. The district is building an offshore wind marine terminal that will house electric energy-generating turbines, potentially powering areas as far as the Bay Area, over 200 miles away. It may also store cargo and create jobs for turbine assembly. 

But the project is facing federal funding cuts totaling $426.7 million.

“You would hope that somewhere in this administration, they would see the value of wind energy and the jobs that it would create,” said BK White, policy director for the Richmond mayor’s office. “That’s not what we’re hearing coming from them. They’re going to be staunchly against it.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation has terminated 12 offshore wind projects across the country, including the Humboldt Bay offshore wind terminal, which was to be funded by a grant from the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program, also known as INFRA. 

“Wasteful wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an Aug. 29 press release. 

The news was a blow to Richmond’s Green-Blue New Deal, which the city wrote in 2021. Its goal is to create at least 1,000 new green energy jobs for Richmond residents.

But the California Energy Commission gave the city hope last month, awarding it a $750,000 grant to study the feasibility of an offshore floating wind turbine off Richmond’s coast. 

Last year, Richmond released a Green-Blue New Deal opportunities report, which suggested the city could serve as an offshore wind turbine assembly site, providing jobs and helping build electricity-generating wind turbines for Humboldt Bay and other areas. White said federal funding is needed for Richmond to build the infrastructure necessary for wind turbine assembly. 

Richmond Councilmember Claudia Jimenez anticipates wind and other clean-energy projects will be on hold until a new administration is willing to provide more aid. 

“Hopefully, with a change of administration at the federal level, or at least in two years, with hopefully a change in some of the power dynamics in the Senate and Congress, we could see some different attitudes towards supporting and giving resources,” Jiménez said. 

California comes up with money

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill in 2021 requiring the California Energy Commission to develop an offshore wind production plan. It set a goal of generating 25,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2045, sparking projects like Humboldt Bay.

Last year, California voters backed that commitment when they approved Proposition 4, a $10 billion bond to be used for natural resource and climate-related projects. Of that, $475 million was set aside for coastal wind energy development, such as the Humboldt Bay project. 

“California is going to try to salvage it and find ways to keep it going,” Ken Alex, director of Project Climate at UC Berkeley Law, said. “I think it’s a very strong indicator of where the Trump administration is going, trying to move us back to the 1950s instead of forward to the 2050s.”

The California Energy Commission awarded the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Project an $18.3 million grant from Proposition 4 climate bond funding at its Oct. 8 meeting. Also in October, the commission awarded a similar project — Pier Wind at the Port of Long Beach — $20 million from Prop 4.

“We will transition to state funds in the interim because the state is very focused on offshore wind,” said Chris Mikkelsen, executive director of the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation & Conservation District. “We’re going to show rural America how economic development is done. And we’re proud of that.”

California’s North Coast is said to have great wind energy potential because it is windier than its southern counterpart. But western waters are deeper than waters off the East Coast, making it more difficult to anchor turbines to the seafloor. That’s why Humboldt Bay would have to install the more costly floating turbines, which sit on buoyant platforms using mooring lines to stay in place.

Another expensive, yet essential element of the project will be connecting offshore wind turbines to the electric grid. New electric transmission lines will need to run through forests, according to Matt Simmons, a climate attorney at the Environmental Protection Information Center. They would distribute electricity from the turbines beyond Humboldt Bay to parts of the Bay Area and Sacramento, Simmons said. 

Tribes and anglers flag issues

Tribal people and fishers have voiced concerns about offshore wind turbines being noisy and disturbing habitats, Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery said.

Humboldt Bay is home to fishers and Native American tribes, including the Wiyot People and Blue Lake Rancheria. The groups prioritize preserving and protecting the environment. On their website, the Wiyot People say, “The Tribe is also dedicated to preserving native history and the cultural material of their ancestors. This includes the ancient village sites and shell middens that surround Humboldt Bay.”

The Wiyot tribe did not respond to a request for comment. 

Heidi Moore-Guynup, the director of tribal and government affairs for Blue Lake Rancheria, said the tribe is generally in favor of offshore wind, so long as cultural resources are protected and the wind terminal limits emissions.

“We are pressing the other state regulatory agencies to keep moving forward with the project,” Moore-Guynup said. “The tribe very much cares about climate change and is interested in promoting industries that are clean and that can also assist with providing reliable electrification.”

Blue Lake Rancheria has been involved in the planning process, through advisory committees and tribal consultations, Moore-Guynup said. 

Larry De Ridder, president of the Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers board of directors, said his group has concerns about pollution, closure of fishing areas and the project’s effects on local halibut and herring populations. 

Asked if his board supports the project, De Ridder provided a statement saying the group recognizes the importance of renewable energy but has concerns.

“Key concerns include potential displacement of fishing activity, increased navigational hazards within Humboldt Bay and long-term environmental liabilities associated with turbine operations and decommissioning,” the statement read. It called for comprehensive local planning to mitigate those and other disruptions to the community.

The Humboldt Bay Harbor District will inform tribal communities and fishers of project dates, so they can be prepared, Simmons, from the Environmental Protection Information Center, said. Ultimately, he added, disturbances will be temporary as turbines are being pushed out.

Those behind the Humboldt Bay project are still optimistic that construction will begin next year, as planned. 

“We are a rural part of California being directly harmed by the Trump administration,” Simmons said. “I will say, I don’t think that the federal grant being pulled is the end of the project.” 

(Top photo of floating wind technology, courtesy of Josh Bauer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

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State grant spurs possibility of wind turbine manufacturing in Richmond