[Updated: Wed., June 17, 2026, 5:18pm]
“It’s a horrible thing,” “They’re killing us,” President Trump has said of wind farms with typical hyperbole. Most atypically, the Trump administration conceded defeat after a court judgment defrosted the presidential freeze on wind leases and permits imposed by a “Day One” executive memo in 2025.
California, with dozens of wind projects in its pipeline, and 16 other states attacked the Presidential Wind Memorandum in federal court that May, calling it not only illegal but harmful to securing alternate sources of energy. After a Massachusetts judge struck down the memo late in the year, an appeal filed by Trump’s Department of Justice in February was dropped four months later. The dismissal on June 15 is “the final resolution of this matter,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office asserted on Monday.
Presumably, this would put 30 gigawatts’ worth of energy back in play across the country, or wind projects in the planning or construction stages in 2026, according to Atlas Public Policy. The stink issuing from the Presidential Wind Memorandum extended to the Pentagon, which must approve onshore windfarms. The 30 gigawatts across 150 projects were put on hold while waiting for Department of Defense authorizations this year, the Atlas report stated.
In California, the freeze affected five offshore wind farms that were projected to produce more than eight gigawatts of electricity, enough to power at least three million homes. Purchased through leases in 2022, two are in federal waters off the coast of Humboldt; three are off Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo. Two have taken federal buyouts of their leases.
On Wednesday, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced a second of the Morro Bay trio would depart. Invenergy agreed to accept $765 million to cancel four leases off Morro Bay, New York, and Maine. Burgum stated the trade for natural-gas-fired plants and geothermal power plants would be “affordable, reliable American energy.”
The California Energy Commission disagrees. Spokesperson Stacey Shepard noted that the state had worked with federal agencies and local groups to prepare for offshore wind, making significant investments because wind developers said they were essential. “California is exploring all options to protect the state’s investments, including potential legal remedies. If the federal government is funding buyouts, Californians who invested years of time, money, and effort preparing for these projects should not be left empty-handed while developers are rewarded for walking away.”
Off Morro Bay, Golden State Wind canceled its lease in April. Its settlement agreement with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) stated the return of its roughly $120 million deposit was to go toward oil, gas, or liquified natural gas. Among the side-by-side wind leases 20 miles off the northern coast of San Luis Obispo County (SLO), Golden State Wind had won the middle spot for $150 million. The settlement asserted that the Department of War raised classified concerns of national security that would scuttle its operations, leading to the decision to take the buyout.
Cancellation of the project — owned by companies in Spain, France, England, and Boston, Massachusetts — had consequences. Golden State Wind had purchased one gigawatt of transmission capacity at Diablo Canyon, according to State Senator John Laird’s office. Equinor and Invenergy had laid off their employees in the area, ending communications with local officials.
The $2 billion in wind energy buyouts nationwide came under fire in Congress by Democrats from AOC to Jamie Raskin, arguing the unlawful use of public funds. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, the ranking member on the Senate environment committee, began an investigation that questioned the use of the DOJ’s Judgment Fund, the same fund that was to pay the January 6 insurrectionists. The fund existed to pay final judgments or settlements, Whitehouse said, not to pay companies to walk away with taxpayer money without making a claim.
Despite buyouts or temporary freezes, putting together 1,000-foot-tall structures set to float on platforms anchored in thousands of feet of water takes time. At Morro Bay, Equinor’s work on the West Coast was on pause while the Norway-based company focused on wind projects off New York and Delaware, said Chris Munson, director of Morro Bay Harbor. He added that S.L.O. County had looked at wind operations support at Morro Bay and Port San Luis, finding them only somewhat feasible at the port.
California, however, is investing $427 million into port projects in Long Beach and Humboldt, the Los Angeles Times reported. The one remaining project off Morro Bay appeared to be moving forward, holding meetings with fishers and tribal members, according to reports to BOEM. It hoped to start by 2027.
The project had completion targets in the mid-2030s. Golden State Wind and its buyout agreement are under investigation by the California Energy Commission, whose chair David Hochschild said in May, “Taxpayer dollars should be used to build a sustainable energy future, not to pay to make projects disappear.”
For most California politicians and environmentalists, the loss of wind energy is unpopular. Of the judgment against Trump’s Wind Memorandum, Senator Adam Schiff said, “While this ruling is a step in the right direction in the fight against this administration’s regressive energy policies, they continue to do all they can to kill wind and solar power, harming consumers and the environment alike. Promoting renewable energy would lower utility bills and put the public health first. What the administration is doing, on the other hand, only benefits Big Oil.”
