Newsom's Offshore Wind Plan Will Likely Cost Californians Tens of Billions of Dollars. They...

Californians can once again expect a spike to their utility bills, which are already among the highest in the nation, thanks to the Newsom administration's pledge to buy electricity from offshore wind turbines. State-commissioned consultants expect residents will have to pay up to $40 billion, but outside experts predict the actual cost will be multiple times higher.
In August, the California Public Utilities Commission—appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.)—authorized the state to begin soliciting up to 7.6 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, starting in 2027. That commitment ignored its consultants' recommendation to limit the project to between 1 and 3 gigawatts to avoid major increases to ratepayers' electricity bills.

A state-commissioned analysis by Energy and Environmental Economics projected that relying on offshore wind energy for 7.6 gigawatts—a small fraction of California's annual electric grid needs of 287 gigawatts—could save about $10 billion by 2045 in the most optimistic scenario. But it also predicted that the plan would more likely cost ratepayers as much as $40 billion. Outside experts believe that's a major underestimate, with actual costs ranging from double to nearly quadruple that figure.