Company Floats Proposal For 1st Wind Farm Off California

MORRO BAY, Calif. (AP) -- A Seattle company is floating a proposal for California's first offshore wind farm.

Alla Weinstein of Trident Winds is beginning a series of community briefings on her wind farm proposal. The San Jose Mercury News reports Sunday that the wind-industry veteran is proposing putting 100 floating wind turbines about 15 miles off Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo County (http://bayareane.ws/1XXRLl5 ).

The offshore wind farm would be in line with Gov. Jerry Brown's directive to have half the state's energy come from renewable sources by 2030. Both fishing groups and environmental organizations already say they have reservations about the offshore wind farm. Weinstein expects just securing government permits for the work will take six or seven years.

Weinstein was involved in some of the world's first floating wind farms, off Portugal.