CFROG is partnering with local labor unions to ensure workforce readiness for offshore wind developments across the Tri-Counties.
Early on in his presidency, Joe Biden set an ambitious goal for renewable energy in the United States: 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power deployed by 2030. Since then, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), have been exploring and identifying the optimal locations for offshore wind farms on the east and west coasts. In 2022, BOEM identified the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area (MBWEA), a 376 square mile area 26-45 miles off the shore of Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo County. These local developments, alongside two additional offshore wind projects emerging off the coast of Humboldt County, harbor the potential to produce enough energy to power 1.5 million homes, improve grid reliability, create thousands of jobs, accelerate the decommissioning of the long-controversial Diablo Canyon Power Plant, and move California closer to our climate and renewable energy goals.
As BOEM, NOAA, developers, and state agencies prepare for these developments to take hold in the near future, preparing our local workforce for emerging jobs in the offshore wind industry is essential to ensure these developments are truly benefiting local communities. CFROG is actively partnering with local labor unions, Laborers International United of North America (LiUNA) Local 585 and the Tri-Counties Building and Construction Trades Council (TCBCTC) to ensure that laborers on the frontlines of the fossil fuel industry are not left behind in the transition to clean energy, especially when it comes to opportunities in offshore wind here on the Central Coast.
Offshore wind is emerging as an important component of the transition away from fossil fuels. When discussing just how entrenched fossil fuels have become in our lives, workforce, and economy, Luis C., a pre-apprenticeship student from the TCBCTC questioned, “Then what happens when the oil runs out? What about the jobs?” This is exactly the question that CFROG and our labor partners have been preparing to answer as we invest in offshore wind training for the workforce that will need safe, high paying, and skilled jobs – long after the oil runs out.
Luis C. completing the VR portion of the Introduction to Offshore Wind class.
Following his completion of our Introduction to Offshore Wind course, Luis remarked: “I’m really happy I completed this course. It taught me a lot about wind energy technology and how promising it is for the future… The class was fun and informative!”
Since early 2023, we have been utilizing innovative virtual reality (VR) technology and cutting-edge curriculum to train pre-apprenticeship students on what to expect from emerging career opportunities in offshore wind. We have trained 30 students from LiUNA’s Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Accelerator (YARA) program and TCBCTC’s Tri-Counties Pre-Apprenticeship program. YARA is primarily composed of youth of color ages 16-24 from low-income communities, who earn-while-they-learn and receive a 5-hour Introduction to Offshore Wind certification alongside their Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) certification. The Tri-Counties Pre-Apprenticeship program provides adults from Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties with a baseline knowledge of approximately 22 trades/unions while they also receive their MC3 certification. This program is specifically focused on including marginalized groups, especially women, people of color, low-income individuals, and formerly incarcerated people, in the trades through participation in this pre-apprenticeship. These students are also now earning their 5-hour Introduction to Offshore Wind certification, distinguishing them with expanded knowledge from other pre-apprenticeship program graduates. To date, 30 students across Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties have completed this course.
YARA students receive their 5-hour Introduction to Offshore Wind certificates.
Tri-Counties students learn about how wind energy is produced.
In the classroom, students learn about how climate change has brought us to the point where we must invest in green jobs, the life cycle of a wind farm, how offshore wind energy is harnessed and transferred to the grid, job opportunities in offshore wind, and much more. In the virtual reality module, students receive hands-on experience as they board the crew transit vessel at port, operate the vessel on the “open seas” with simulated boat rocking and motion sickness, climb 500 feet to the top of an offshore wind turbine, and perform basic maintenance tasks inside the nacelle. This combination of curriculum and hands-on VR experience has served as an exceptional career exploration and training tool, with 67% of course participants saying they could see themselves pursuing a career in offshore wind and 100% of participants saying they would recommend the course to others.
As offshore wind operations are established on the California coast, CFROG, LiUNA, and TCBCTC are on the forefront of workforce development, training, and readiness. As this new renewable energy system is established, it is important we protect our communities and workers from the harms established by the fossil fuel energy system. CFROG is dedicated to working with partners and stakeholders to ensure an equitable transition that includes safe and sustainable working conditions, engagement and solidarity with Indigenous communities, and prioritization of environmental justice. Keep an eye out on our social media for updates as we continue to train and partner with the workers that are building a carbon-free future!
