AG Bonta, CEC Announces Second Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Trump Administration Wind Deal

For Immediate Release: September 22, 2026

NEW YORK CITY - California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission (CEC) today filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration and Invenergy over the Administration's unlawful buyout of Invenergy's California offshore wind energy lease. Under the alleged settlement agreement announced on June 17, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) will unlawfully reallocate more than $111 million in federal taxpayer dollars to pay Invenergy to abandon its lease in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area off the Central California coast. The buyout also requires the company to cause its corporate affiliates to invest the same amount in out-of-state fossil fuel or geothermal projects that will do nothing to support California's energy economy. If allowed to proceed, the taxpayer-funded buyout threatens to set back California's offshore wind industry, undermining public investments in ports' offshore wind capacity, and damaging supporting industries and clean energy jobs that support working families. In the lawsuit, California argues that DOI's buyout deal with Invenergy violates the Constitution and numerous federal laws, including the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), Coastal Zone Management Act, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Judgment Fund Act, and 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.

"At a time when we need more reliable, clean energy, President Trump is trying to send $111 million dollars to his fossil fuel industry friends and wants taxpayers and working families to cover the tab. 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," said Attorney General Rob Bonta. "During Climate Week and all year round, we're focused on sustainable energy, mitigating environmental impacts, and taking action when our clean energy future is attacked. California is not here to foot the bill - we have the receipts and we're asking the court to strike down this blatantly unlawful deal."

"As leaders gather for Climate Week NYC to discuss the urgent need for clean, domestic energy, the Trump administration is unlawfully using taxpayer dollars to coerce companies to abandon it," said California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild. "California is challenging these reckless and illegal backroom deals and holding the companies that participate in them accountable. We will vigorously defend clean energy and the good-paying jobs and economic opportunity that are at stake for our communities."

California's offshore wind strategic plan calls for the state 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 accelerate 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. Cancelled offshore wind projects threaten to deprive California of more than 174,750 jobs, infrastructure investment, and long-term economic development.

This agreement marks another step in the Trump Administration's ongoing attempt to cancel offshore wind projects and replace them with fossil fuel energy projects, including lease buyout deals with Golden State Wind LLC and RWE U.S. Offshore. 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 July, the California Department of Justice and CEC sent a Notice of Intent to Sue, which provided a 60-day window for DOI and Invenergy to cure any violations before California filed suit to stop this unlawful buyout.

In today's lawsuit, California alleges that DOI's buyout deal with Invenergy violates numerous federal laws, including the OCSLA and APA, because it uses a sham settlement to bypass the rules that Congress set down for the offshore energy leasing program, including stakeholder participation rights for affected states like California and a cap on how much the government can pay to a developer when it cancels a lease. California also argues that the deal violates the Judgment Fund Act, federal funding laws, and the Constitution because the $111 million payment was not a settlement to resolve an existing lawsuit. Instead, it was a fabricated arrangement designed to justify the unlawful cancellation of another offshore wind lease. California is asking the court to strike down the blatantly unlawful agreement and to stop the administration from implementing this illegal deal.

For more information, visit the Latest Developments section on CEC's offshore renewable energy webpage.

# # #

About the California Energy Commission
The California Energy Commission is the state's primary energy policy and planning agency, leading the state to a 100 percent clean energy future for all. It has seven core responsibilities: advancing state energy policy, encouraging energy efficiency, certifying power plants, investing in energy innovation, developing renewable energy, transforming transportation, and preparing for energy emergencies.