Offshore wind company cancels Morro Bay project in deal with Trump administration
One of three offshore wind companies has canceled its plans to deploy turbines off Morro Bay in a deal announced by the Trump administration on Monday.
Ocean Winds, which owns the Golden State Wind project, agreed to end its lease in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced in a news release.
As part of the deal, Golden State Wind can recover about $120 million in lease fees after the company invests an equal amount in U.S. oil and gas, energy infrastructure or liquefied natural gas projects in the Gulf Coast, the release said.
The U.S. Department of Interior recently offered a total of $885 million to two offshore wind companies — Golden State Wind on the West Coast and Bluepoint Wind on the East Coast — to terminate their leases.
The Golden State Wind project was designed to generate 2 gigawatts of energy, which could have powered 1.1 million homes, according to its website. The lease was about 22 miles from the closest point to shore and 53 miles from Morro Bay.
“We welcome the opportunity to engage constructively with the administration on this agreement and acknowledge the clarity they have provided with this decision and deal,” Ocean Winds North America CEO Michael Brown said in the release. “Our priority remains disciplined capital allocation and delivering reliable energy solutions that create long-term value for ratepayers, partners and shareholders.”
Ocean Winds is co-owned by the Spanish renewable energy company EDPR and the French electric utility company ENGIE, according to its website.
It’s unclear how this deal will affect the other two leaseholders, Equinor and Invenergy.
On Tuesday afternoon, Equinor said it did not have any updates to share on its California lease area, and Invenergy had not yet responded to The Tribune’s request for comment.
The California project wasn’t the only offshore wind development that was spiked this week.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of the Interior also announced that Ocean Winds and Global Infrastructure Partners agreed to terminate their offshore wind lease near New York.
The Bluepoint Wind project was designed to generate 2.4 gigawatts of energy to power about 1 million homes, its website said. The lease area was 38 nautical miles from the New York coast and 53 nautical miles from the New Jersey coast.
The project co-owner, Global Infrastructure Partners, agreed to invest $765 million into a liquefied natural gas facility based in the United States, the release said.
Then, the U.S. Department of Interior will cancel the Bluepoint Wind lease and “reimburse the company’s bid payment in the amount invested in the liquified natural gas project,” the release said.
Global Infrastructure Partners is a subsidiary of the global asset manager BlackRock Inc.
Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind will not pursue other offshore wind projects in the United States, the release said.
The goal of the deal was to support President Donald Trump’s Energy Dominance Agenda, the release said.
“President Trump is focused on providing affordable and reliable energy to American citizens,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in the release.
“The companies that bid for these offshore wind leases were basically sold a product in 2022 that was only viable when propped up by massive taxpayer subsidies,” Burgum said. “Now that hardworking Americans are no longer footing the bill for expensive, unreliable, intermittent energy projects, companies are once again investing in affordable, reliable, secure energy infrastructure. We welcome each of the projects’ willingness to actually support baseload power and lower utility bills for American families. In addition, the agreements resolve the unaddressed national security concerns at both projects.”
Reaction to the offshore wind announcement
REACT Alliance, a local nonprofit that formed to oppose offshore wind, celebrated the decision.
On April 2, REACT Alliance Vice President Saro Rizzo sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior encouraging it to pursue settlement agreements with the companies that have offshore wind leases in California. Now, the department has done just that with Golden State Wind.
“REACT Alliance is very pleased with the Department of Interior’s decision, and we hope that this process will extend to the other four leases off the coast of California,” Rizzo told The Tribune on Tuesday. “We feel that this is in the best interest of local residents, not only for environmental reasons but for long-term economic reasons as well.”
Along with the two remaining leases off the San Luis Obispo County coast, two others remain in effect off Humboldt County.
Offshore wind advocates, however, said the deal hurts the Central Coast.
More than 300 pre-apprenticeship students on the Central Coast had been preparing for offshore wind jobs and now have to put their careers on hold, according to Abrah Steward, the program manager of the nonprofit Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas.
“This decision doesn’t just slow projects, it directly impacts local workers, families and communities who were counting on these opportunities,” Steward said in a statement.
Environment California state director Laura Deehan said the state should continue to support the offshore wind industry.
“Golden State Wind’s departure is a missed opportunity, but California should keep its focus on establishing a homegrown offshore wind industry that will benefit all households in the state,” she said in a statement.
“Offshore wind stands out as a vital clean energy solution that perfectly complements our existing solar and storage investments,” Deehan added. “It harnesses the strongest winds off our coast specifically during peak evening demand, providing a clean alternative that stabilizes energy prices for everyone. With overwhelming public support and the promise of revitalized ports and local economies, it is time to move forward with the urgency this climate crisis demands.”
The California Energy Commission referred the Tribune to the Governor’s Office for comment.
On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the deal in a post on the social media platform X.
“The Trump administration again just gave companies almost a billion dollars in taxpayer money to abandon clean energy projects and line Big Oil’s pockets,” he wrote. “Donald Trump is forcing Americans to pay more for energy and sabotaging our future.”
Rep. Salud Carbajal helped negotiate the creation of the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area, and he criticized the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle it.
“I am outraged by this backwards decision to sabotage the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area,” he said in a statement. “In Congress, I championed these projects because they represented a clear win-win-win for the Central Coast. The projects strengthened our energy security, boosted local economic growth and advanced important environmental protections. Because of a bizarre personal vendetta against wind energy, Donald Trump’s administration is turning a historic opportunity into a historic failure. Beyond the strategic failure of this policy decision, today’s announcement also represents a staggering waste of taxpayer dollars. I won’t let this extreme federal overreach and pressure go unchallenged, and I will continue to fight for the Central Coast’s right to build a greener economy.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Offshore wind company cancels Morro Bay project in deal with Trump administration."
