Reports

History of Electric Transmission and Natural Gas Infrastructure in Humboldt County (September 2025)

A new report from the Schatz Energy Research Center provides a detailed historical account of the energy infrastructure that serves Humboldt County. Power Behind the Redwood Curtain: A History of Electric Transmission and Natural Gas Infrastructure in Humboldt County is written by Schatz Center director Arne Jacobson, and based on analysis of archival newspaper articles and documents, historic aerial photographs, and literature sources. In this report, Jacobson chronicles the close connection between Humboldt County’s existing energy infrastructure and the timber industry — and then links that history with contemporary opportunities and challenges, ranging from regional economic development and electricity reliability to offshore wind deployment and the State of California’s climate and clean energy goals. 

Permitting Report for California Offshore Wind Port Development (May 2025)

The Schatz Energy Research Center has released a report on Permitting for Port Infrastructure to Support Offshore Wind in California. This report identifies the numerous permitting and planning processes required to build port infrastructure for staging and integration sites in California — including approximately 20 authorizations from federal, state, and local agencies that project developers may need to obtain — and includes a potential permitting timeline based on existing statutory and regulatory deadlines. The report’s analysis applies statewide, but is also specifically applied to projects currently proposed in Wigi (Humboldt Bay) and the Port of Long Beach.

Evaluating seabird collision vulnerability to offshore wind development (April 2025)

The Schatz Energy Research Center has released the final report in their 3D seabird study – Evaluating Seabird Collision Vulnerability to Offshore Wind Development. This project was a collaborative effort: H. T. Harvey & Associates led analyses to understand where 44 species of seabirds have been observed, based on decades of existing data, and how those recorded species typically behave within the vertical air column in response to wind speed. Simultaneously, the Schatz Center team analyzed wind speeds and associated power generation potential across the region – and then integrated the bird vulnerability framework with the wind power generation model to understand potential tradeoffs.

Labor Report for California Floating Offshore Wind (April 2025)

The Schatz Energy Research Center has released a report on California Floating Offshore Wind: Evaluating Workforce Analyses and Assessing Professional Labor Needs. This report offers new insights into the professional workforce that will be needed in order to deploy floating offshore wind (FOSW) in California. The report (a) evaluates existing workforce analyses and tools, (b) examines key factors influencing job projections, and (c) assesses professional labor needs across multiple industry activities, including project development, supply chain, operations and maintenance, port development, and transmission infrastructure.