CROWLEY NEGOTIATION RIGHTS TO EXPIRE
Other companies can partake in offshore wind development operations
Crowley Wind Services might not be the company ultimately developing and operating the offshore wind terminal in Samoa.
The company is allowing its exclusive right to negotiate with the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District to expire at the end of March, although it will continue staffing the Eureka office.
This means other companies could potentially bid on the project, should the district release a request for proposal, which Development Director Rob Holmlund said might happen in the coming months.
“We will continue to work with Crowley, see what can be worked out and if they don't end up being our operator, then we will work with other parties to have someone else become the operator,” Holmlund said. “I'd say that this doesn't change anything at all.”
If Crowley ultimately bows out and another company takes the reins, the new company would help the district secure matching funds for their recent grant of almost $427 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“This gives us a period, and, frankly, the harbor district a period where we can work together with local leaders to really optimize any needs to develop and design and engineer a successful facility,” David DeCamp, a Crowley spokesperson, told the Times-Standard.
DeCamp said it is too early for him to speculate on Crowley's potential moves if another company puts forward a competitive
"It's a possibility that we'll end up with a different partner in the coming months." — Development Director Rob Holmlund
bid for an RFP. The company was paying $25,000 per month for the exclusive right to negotiate.
Crowley's so-far brief tenure in Humboldt County has not been free of controversy.
Yurok Tribal Chairman Joseph James wrote an oped in the Times-Standard calling on the district to pursue another partnership given the current civil lawsuit against parent company Crowley Maritime. Two women alleged that, while they worked in El Salvador, the company mandated trips to the company's Florida headquarters with a supervisor who the women said sexually assaulted and raped them on the trip, despite reporting previously that he had sexually harassed them. Crowley denies the sex trafficking allegations.
Holmlund said the project should still proceed as scheduled, and the district is acquiring the required permits to develop the terminal.
Four separate studies showed that, unless this project and another wind terminal in Long Beach succeed, California will fail to reach its renewable energy goals.
“Crowley has really been a partner on the side and their help so far has been very useful, but their relationship with us will likely change over time and it's a possibility that we'll end up with a different partner in the coming months,” he said.