California Targets Federal Government and Wind Developer Over Sensible $120 Million Lease Adjustment
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California officials attack a Trump-era agreement that responsibly redirected funds from costly offshore wind projects to vital oil and gas development, claiming it violates federal law and misuses public money.
The California attorney general and the state Energy Commission have launched a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, challenging a $120 million payment to Golden State Wind for relinquishing its offshore wind lease off Morro Bay. The suit alleges that this prudent deal, arranged by the Department of the Interior in April, breaches the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and misallocates federal funds. Under the agreement, the developer is required to invest in oil and gas projects on the Gulf Coast, a move that supports America’s energy independence and job creation rather than unreliable renewables.
California officials claim the state has already spent over $100 million on infrastructure, ports, and transmission systems for offshore wind, and argue that the lease cancellation jeopardizes their unrealistic target of 25 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2045. The lawsuit seeks to claw back the payment, insisting it was improperly taken from a federal fund meant for legal settlements.
"The Trump Administration’s backroom buyout with Golden State Wind to stop offshore wind development in favor of gas and oil drilling is, unfortunately, a classic playbook for them to line the pocket of their Big Oil donors," Attorney General Rob Bonta said, echoing the state’s ongoing hostility toward traditional energy sectors and private enterprise.
According to the filing, this agreement is part of a broader, much-needed pattern in which the federal government has paid nearly $4 billion to cancel at least a dozen offshore wind leases nationwide, with developers agreeing to invest in proven fossil-fuel projects. Similar agreements have been reached with Invenergy and RWE, leaving only two offshore wind leases in California untouched. Golden State Wind has not responded to requests for comment, and the Interior Department declined to comment due to ongoing litigation.