California Sends Notice of Intent to File Second Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration’s Unlawful Offshore Wind Lease Buyouts

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Energy Commission (CEC) Chair David Hochschild today sent a Notice of Intent to Sue targeting an unlawful agreement between the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) and Invenergy, that would thwart California’s offshore wind energy development. Under the agreement announced on June 17, 2026, DOI will unlawfully reallocate more than $111 million in federal taxpayer dollars to pay an Invenergy subsidiary to abandon its offshore wind energy lease in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area off the Central California coast (Lease OCS-P 0565), and the company is required to make an equivalent investment in fossil fuel or geothermal projects. The Invenergy lease buyout comes on the heels of the DOI’s $120 million buyout of Golden State Wind LLC’s offshore wind energy lease in the same Morro Bay Wind Energy Area. Nationwide, the Trump Administration has committed $2.6 billion of taxpayer dollars to buy back offshore wind energy leases. 

“Using taxpayer money to strike backroom buyouts that make clean-energy projects disappear is illegal,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. "Make no mistake: California will continue to hold the Trump Administration accountable for illegally striking deals to kill offshore wind projects.” 

“This unlawful agreement is another reckless attempt by the Trump Administration to deny Californians the benefits of offshore wind,” said California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild. “Offshore wind isn’t just about domestic, clean energy – it’s about creating the good-paying jobs and industries of the future.” 

In 2024, CEC adopted a goal to develop 25 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2045, enough to power roughly 25 million homes and provide about 13% of the state’s electricity supply, to support California’s clean energy transition, create local manufacturing jobs, and drive economic development. 

Since federal offshore wind energy development planning began off California's coast a decade ago, the state has worked with federal agencies, developers, tribes, labor groups, ports, fishermen, local governments, and communities to prepare for offshore wind development. California has invested more than $100 million to ready California’s ports, transmission systems, and industries to support offshore wind generation.  

In 2022, after a competitive auction for offshore wind energy leases, Invenergy paid the U.S. over $111 million to purchase an offshore wind lease in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area off the Central California Coast for development of a project up to two gigawatts in capacity, with additional commitments of more than $30 million for workforce training, supply chain development, and benefits to local communities like fishermen’s associations. But on June 17, 2026, DOI announced it would cancel the lease through a taxpayer-funded agreement with Invenergy that purportedly “settles” litigation that Invenergy never brought, challenging action that DOI never took. DOI claims that unspecified national security concerns justified a lease cancellation, even though the federal government previously reviewed and approved the lease area after years of analysis and consultation with the U.S. Department of Defense. 

In the Notice of Intent to Sue sent to DOI and Invenergy today, California alleges that DOI’s buyout deal with Invenergy violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), which is intended to give California a say in the offshore wind leasing program and prevent corrupt backroom deals. The Notice of Intent to Sue provides a 60-day window for DOI and Invenergy to cure the OCSLA violations before California files suit to put a stop to this unlawful buyout.  

The attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont also filed a joint Notice of Intent to Sue today to challenge additional lease buyouts between DOE and Invenergy subsidiaries that were announced at the same time. Those taxpayer-funded buyout deals cover three leases off the coasts of New York, New Jersey and Maine at a total cost of $653 million.

Today’s Notice of Intent to Sue is the latest step by California to combat the Trump Administration’s attacks on development of our state’s offshore wind energy resource. Attorney General Bonta and CEC Chair Hochschild issued a similar Notice of Intent to Sue on June 23, 2026, targeting the DOI deal with Golden State Wind, LLC, after CEC served an administrative investigative subpoena to Golden State Wind in May. CEC also issued an administrative investigation subpoena to Invenergy last month.