Trump ends another wind energy lease off coast of Morro Bay

June 17, 2026

By KAREN VELIE

The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it has made deals to end four more offshore wind leases, including another off the coast of Morro Bay.

In 2022, the federal government auctioned off three offshore wind energy sites located between 20 and 30 miles off the coast near Morro Bay for more than $400 million. Invenergy secured the lease of a 80,418-acre site in Dec. 2022 at a federal auction for $145.3 million.

As part of the settlement agreement, Invenergy will terminate its four offshore wind leases located off the coasts of San Luis Obispo County,  New York and Maine. Invenergy will redirect $765 million towards other domestic energy sources, including the development of natural gas-fired power plants geothermal power generation projects.

“President Trump is committed to unleashing affordable, reliable American energy for our country’s communities and putting the American people first through common-sense action,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “The offshore wind leases were sold under the assumptions that taxpayers would indefinitely subsidize costly, unreliable projects and that no national security concerns were implicated – both assumptions have since been proven false.”

Concerned with the 2022 leases, locals formed REACT Alliance, a nonprofit with a mission to protect California’s Central Coast from the “destructive impacts of offshore wind energy development.”

In Dec. 2025, based on national security concerns, the Trump administration suspended leases of all off-shore wind farms currently under construction in the United States. Since then, many wind energy projects have stalled or ended through signed agreements.

On April 2, attorney and member of REACT Alliance Saro Rizzo asked the U.S. Department of the Interior to make similar offers the the five wind energy lease holders off the coast of California.

In late April, The Trump administration announced that it made a deals to end the Golden State Wind lease off the coast of Morro Bay.

With two of the three leases off the coast of Morro Bay canceled, the only lease remaining is with Equinor.

These settlement agreements provide partial reimbursement for offshore wind leases that required significant taxpayer support. By ending these leases and encouraging investment in reliable, cost-effective conventional energy sources, the settlement agreements promote mutually beneficial projects, according to the Trump administration.

“REACT Alliance is happy to hear that this morning the Department of Interior and  Invenergy announced that they reached a deal to cancel four of Invenergy’s offshore wind leases including one of the coast of Morro Bay,” according to REACT Alliance. “With this announcement, only the lease awarded  to Atlas Offshore Wind (backed by Norwegian energy firm Equinor) remains and we are confident this lease will also soon be cancelled putting an end to floating offshore wind off the Central Coast of California.”

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