Newsletter Volume 1 | August 2024
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Even Keel Wind, an Invenergy project, is pleased to announce the launch of What’s Afloat, a quarterly newsletter that will be distributed and posted on the Even Keel Wind website. We look forward to updating readers about the project and the work our Even Keel Wind team is doing across the Central California Coast and beyond.
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Developed by Invenergy, Even Keel Wind is an American-led offshore wind project located off California’s Central Coast. The project builds on Invenergy’s 20+ year track record of responsibly developing, building, owning and operating energy generation and storage projects to accelerate cleaner, more reliable, affordable energy. Through Even Keel Wind, Invenergy is advancing comprehensive Tribal and stakeholder engagement, American innovation in offshore wind, and impactful community investment to support the future energy needs of California residents.
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California’s energy needs are increasing. So much so that California’s energy grid operator has projected the need for an additional 120,000 megawatts of clean power generation over the next two decades to meet future demand and decarbonize the state’s grid by 2045.
Offshore wind is a renewable and abundant source of energy generation off the coast of California. Offshore wind will be an essential part of an affordable and reliable clean energy future in California, which will help support economy-wide carbon emissions reductions. Projects like Even Keel Wind are critical to California meeting its important clean energy goals.
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Over the last year, Even Keel Wind has continued to build out its offshore wind team in California on the ground in the Central Coast region and beyond. We are committed to facilitating meaningful local engagement and are working with Tribes, interested stakeholders, policymakers and residents to inform project development. |
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Community Engagement Manager, Even Keel Wind |
June joined the Even Keel Wind team earlier this year and will lead the community engagement efforts of the project along the Central Coast. She is focused on engagement with local Tribes, fisheries, state, and local government officials, and community members to support comprehensive engagement activities around Even Keel Wind. June is a long time San Luis Obispo resident with a commitment to climate issues and California’s clean energy future.
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“As a resident of the SLO community for decades, I am deeply committed to ensuring that California and the Central Coast are at the forefront of the clean energy transition. With professional experience across multiple fields, including serving on community boards and other volunteer work, I’m excited to support productive local engagement efforts and educate our community about the benefits and importance of offshore wind.”
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Tribal Relations Lead, Invenergy |
Meg joined Invenergy in July and leads Invenergy’s corporate tribal engagement and representation efforts, drawing on her commitment to Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities and extensive experience in the energy sector. Nyberg works across Invenergy’s full U.S. renewables portfolio including onshore wind and solar generation, battery energy storage, long-range transmission, and offshore wind, and will be supporting the team leading Even Keel Wind’s tribal engagement activities. |
“I’m grateful to join Invenergy as the company’s first Tribal Relations Lead and scale their already meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities who are critical to the clean energy transition. As a responsible and respectful clean energy developer, my hire is moving Invenergy’s community engagement forward in a good way, and I look forward to the future as it relates to Tribal engagement.” |
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| We develop, build, and operate every project with an owner’s mindset. This means we are committed to the enduring success of our projects for communities and the environment.
Even Keel Wind’s Community Engagement Manager, June McIvor, will be working with stakeholders across the region to raise awareness of the project throughout the fall. If you have any questions or would like to receive more information about the project, reach out to us at info@evenkeelwind.com. |
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Even Keel Wind is an active member of the CCC’s California Offshore Wind and Fisheries Working Group which meets periodically throughout the year, most recently convening this past May. The goal of the Working Group is to develop a statewide strategy for avoidance, minimization, and mitigation of impacts to fishing and fisheries that prioritizes fisheries’ productivity, viability, and long-term resilience. Read more about the working group here.
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Our team was excited to attend and participate in the 2024 Pacific Offshore Wind Summit in Sacramento in May. Daniel Runyan, Invenergy’s SVP of Offshore Wind Development, joined the opening panel alongside other offshore wind leaseholders in California to discuss key components of a successful offshore wind industry, including meaningful engagement with Tribal communities and stakeholders, proactive transmission planning, and investment in port infrastructure.
The team also enjoyed engaging in productive conversations with Tribal leaders, elected officials, labor leaders, and environmental groups, sharing our vision for the Even Keel Wind project throughout the week. |
Even Keel Wind has been active on the ground in San Luis Obispo County as well. Community Engagement Manager June McIvor joined a roundtable discussion hosted by REACH Central Coast with County Supervisors Dawn Ortiz-Legg and John Peschong, California Public Utilities Commission Commissioners Darcy Houck and John Reynolds, and Jana Ganion, Senior Advisor to the Governor on Offshore Wind. The local delegation shared an update on activities in the region with California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Commissioners, focusing on stakeholder engagement.
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Even Keel Wind is a proud sponsor of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce’s Insight Studio program. Insight Studio is a series of workshops and events created to provide an educational opportunity and hands-on solutions to some of today’s most prevalent business challenges. The 2024 series has a special focus on energy. |
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In addition to the important engagement underway with the Tribes, local communities, and stakeholders, the Even Keel Wind team is developing a comprehensive data collection strategy to understand the marine environment where project activities are likely to occur. Even Keel Wind will commence an offshore wind survey program that will allow for the collection of key data on the project lease area to inform the safe and responsible siting, design, construction, and operations of the project.
These survey efforts include site wind data measurement, offshore campaigns for geophysical (mapping the seafloor), geotechnical (study of geological conditions of the seafloor), benthic (study of seafloor ecosystems), birds and bats, and marine fauna, amongst others. Even Keel Wind will initiate offshore survey campaigns as early as 2025. Survey campaigns will acquire all necessary state and federal approvals and stakeholders will receive appropriate notification prior to commencement.
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Invenergy, a leading privately held developer, owner, and operator of sustainable energy solutions and one of five offshore wind leaseholders off the coast of California, applauds the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for their final need determination to procure of up to 7.6 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2035. Read the full announcement here. |
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Chumash leaders, wind companies unite on a plan for marine sanctuary →
In the Spring of this year, the Northern Chumash Tribal Council (NCTC), Even Keel Wind and the other Central Coast offshore wind leaseholders announced a joint position on a phased approach to the designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (CHNMS) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (NOAA ONMS). Even Keel Wind is grateful for NCTC’s leadership, collaboration, and invaluable input throughout this process. Read more about the joint position here .
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California is a global leader in tackling climate change and developing clean energy, helping drive economic growth while reducing emissions to create a cleaner, healthier tomorrow. We are now at a critical juncture to accelerate our climate and clean energy progress just as we faced at the outset of our world leading policy in Assembly Bill (AB) 32. This summer, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) faces a pivotal choice that could make or break the next clean energy industry – offshore wind. [Read full article here]
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If California wants to meet its goal of building gigawatts of floating wind turbines off its coast in the coming decades, the state needs to go big or go home.
So say clean-energy industry groups and environmental advocates who are praising a recent proposal from the California Public Utilities Commission that they believe will help keep the state’s offshore wind ambitions on track. [Read full article here] |
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The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Friday ramped up its support for offshore wind, with a proposal to fund the procurement of up to 7.6 gigawatts.
The proposal recommended launching three solicitation rounds for offshore wind projects beginning in 2027, with expected electricity deliveries rolling out in 2035, 2036 and 2037. [Read full article here] |
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Even Keel Wind aims to connect the community with project information and up to date resources about offshore wind. See the latest project resources below. |
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Download the Even Keel Wind project fact sheet to go deeper into the project highlights including more about the lease area and more. Read more → |
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Joint Native American Tribes Communications Plan |
The primary objective of the communications plan by the Central California Offshore Wind Projects is to develop a respectful and collaborative relationship between all parties.
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Agency Communications Plan for EKW |
The ACP reflects the development of strategies and procedures the EKW project will undertake to engage with federal, state, and local agencies regarding required permits and consultations. Read more →
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Invenergy is accelerating cleaner, more reliable, affordable energy. Invenergy and its affiliated companies develop, build, own, and operate large-scale renewable and other clean energy generation, transmission and storage facilities in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Headquartered in Chicago, Invenergy has regional development offices in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Japan, Poland, and Scotland.
Invenergy and its affiliated companies have successfully developed more than 31,000 megawatts of projects that are in operation, construction or contracted, including wind, solar, transmission infrastructure and natural gas power generation and advanced energy storage projects. Learn about Invenergy at Invenergy.com. |
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Even Keel Wind, an Invenergy project, is an American-led offshore wind development located off the Central Coast of California. |
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