California files lawsuit over Morro Bay offshore wind energy plans

September 28, 2026

By KAREN VELIE

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission filed a lawsuit last week against the Trump Administration and Invenergy challenging their agreement to end a wind energy lease off the coast of Morro Bay.

As part of the pact, the Department of the Interior reallocated over $111 million in federal funds to pay Invenergy to terminate its lease off the Central Coast. Invenergy is required to invest the funds in other U.S. energy sources.

“At a time when we need more reliable, clean energy, President Trump is trying to send $111 million to his fossil fuel industry friends and wants taxpayers and working families to cover the tab,” Bonta said. “This outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars will damage the offshore wind industry and create unnecessary obstacles to clean and reliable energy powering our homes and economies.”

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 an 80,418-acre site in Dec. 2022 at a federal auction for $145.3 million.

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.

The Trump administration announced in June it had made a deal with Invenergy to end four offshore wind leases located off the coasts of San Luis Obispo County, New York and Maine. As part of the pact, Invenergy will redirect $765 million towards other domestic energy sources.

In his lawsuit, Bonta Claims the Trump Administration’s buyout deal with Invenergy violates numerous federal laws because it uses a “sham settlement to bypass the rules that Congress set down for the offshore energy leasing program including shareholder participation.”

“Instead, it was a fabricated arrangement designed to justify the unlawful cancellation of another offshore wind lease,” according to the California Attorney General’s Office. “California is asking the court to strike down the blatantly unlawful agreement and to stop the administration from implementing this illegal deal.”

In addition, the attorney generals of New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont also filed two joint lawsuits on Sept. 22 challenging additional offshore wind lease buyouts.

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.

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