US offshore wind buybacks draw ire over climate targets

The US federal government's recent move to cancel offshore wind projects is drawing mounting legal and political backlash, with critics warning the campaign threatens the country's climate goals and its ability to meet surging long-term electricity demand driven by the rapid expansion of data centers.

California became the latest state to push back on Tuesday, with Attorney General Rob Bonta filing a notice of intent to sue the White House over a deal that canceled a major wind project off the state's coast.

The filing challenges an agreement signed between the Department of the Interior and Golden State Wind LLC, under which the company agreed to abandon a 2-gigawatt floating offshore wind project off California's central coast in exchange for reimbursement that will be redirected into fossil fuel investments.

The cancellation of the Golden State Wind project will harm the state's clean energy and climate goals and economy, as offshore wind is capable of generating vast amounts of electricity from strong, consistent winds off California's coast, said a news release from Bonta's office.

The cancellation threatens California's goal of developing 25 GW of offshore wind power by 2045, enough to supply roughly 13 percent of the state's electricity, according to the news release.

The California challenge is the latest in a series of legal and political battles ignited by the White House, which aims to roll back agreements to eliminate offshore wind development and redirect investment toward conventional fossil fuel generation. The administration has prioritized oil, gas and coal while seeking to limit construction of renewable energy projects.

The first buyback was signed with TotalEnergies in March. A second deal followed with Ocean Winds, CPP Investments and Global Infrastructure Partners. Last week, the Department of the Interior announced the cancellation of four additional offshore wind leases in California, New York and the Gulf of Maine, this time through an agreement with energy developer Invenergy. Together, the three rounds of buybacks total approximately $2.6 billion across six offshore wind leases spanning both East and West coasts.

The Oceantic Network, an organization dedicated to growing US offshore renewable energy, estimates that the cancellation of a single 1-GW offshore wind project permanently erases between $8.5 billion and $9.5 billion in economic output, based on peer-reviewed modeling and operational benchmarks from East Coast projects.

The group criticized the buyback deals as "the latest tactic to derail domestic energy development while energy prices soar".

At the state level, offshore wind is viewed as a key source for both clean energy transition and economic growth. Maine Governor Janet Mills called the Invenergy buyback an "egregious waste of taxpayer money and a shortsighted decision that will hurt our ability to reduce our reliance on expensive imported fuel".

Mills said the Gulf of Maine lease areas were designated only after years of careful planning and consultation with stakeholders. She warned that the administration's course risked leaving the United States isolated on the global energy stage.

"As many countries around the world, including neighboring Canada, move to harness the benefits of offshore wind, today's announcement by the (US President Donald) Trump Administration further risks that we will be left behind," Mills said in a statement.

Environmental advocates echoed those concerns and questioned the legal basis of the deals. The Natural Resources Council of Maine, the state's leading environmental advocacy organization, called the Invenergy buyback "a huge step backward for affordability and reliability".

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com