California’s governor and legislature reached an agreement to centralise electricity procurement to enable large scale deployment of clean energy, including floating wind power.

The bill now before the legislature, AB 1373, would authorise the Department of Water Resources to take on the additional role of central buyer of uncontracted clean energy resources, a key concern for the nascent floating wind sector.

California lacks a central authority along the lines of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities or the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority capable of organising procurement of vast volumes of offshore wind energy production.