New York and California have filed separate lawsuits challenging two offshore wind lease buyout agreements reached by the Trump administration, with New York leading a coalition of eight states in two cases targeting deals with Bluepoint Wind and Invenergy, while California is challenging the administration’s agreement with Invenergy over a lease off its coast.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and attorneys general from New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont filed two lawsuits on 22 September over agreements under which the US Department of the Interior (DOI) would pay a combined USD 1.4 billion (around EUR 1.2 billion) to cancel four offshore wind leases. One case concerns Bluepoint Wind and a USD 765 million (around EUR 670 million) payment, while the other lawsuit challenges a USD 653 million (around EUR 571 million) payment linked to three Invenergy leases in the Northeast.
The states argue that the agreements unlawfully use money from the federal Judgment Fund and violate the Administrative Procedure Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Judgment Fund Act and other federal spending laws. The lawsuits are asking the courts to declare the agreements unlawful, void the lease cancellations and prevent further implementation of the deals.
The agreement between the DOI and Bluepoint Wind, a partnership comprising Ocean Winds and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), covers the offshore wind lease in the New York Bight that was awarded in the 2022 federal auction, and has been developed to house a 2.4 GW fixed-bottom offshore wind farm.
"Instead of building the offshore wind farm New York was counting on, Bluepoint will use the money to build a liquefied natural gas facility and has committed not to pursue future offshore wind developments in the United States", a press release from the New York Attorney General's office reads.
The second New York lawsuit is for three of the four leases covered by the agreement between the DOI and Invenergy, announced in June. These include Invenergy’s New York Bight lease, where the company and energyRe have been developing the Leading Light Wind project, and two lease areas in the Gulf of Maine.
The fourth Invenergy lease, in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area, where Invenergy was developing a 2 GW floating wind farm, is being challenged separately by California. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission (CEC) also filed the state’s lawsuit on 22 September, saying the agreement with the Trump administration would provide Invenergy with more than USD 111 million (around EUR 97 million) from federal taxpayer funds in exchange for abandoning the lease, while requiring an equivalent investment by its corporate affiliates in fossil fuel or geothermal projects outside California.
California says that the agreement violates the Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Judgment Fund Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. The state is asking the court to strike down the agreement and stop its implementation.
“At a time when we need more reliable, clean energy, President Trump is trying to send $111 million 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.
The California case follows a Notice of Intent to Sue issued to DOI and Invenergy on 16 July, which was filed after the State issued a Notice of Intent to Sue in June over the USD 120 million (around EUR 105 million) Golden State Wind lease buyout. California launched a lawsuit challenging the Golden State Wind deal on 28 August.
California has also issued a Notice of Intent to Sue over the 1.6 GW Canopy floating wind project in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area, affected by the USD 1.22 billion (around EUR 1.05 billion) agreement between the DOI and RWE, which covers RWE’s leases off California, Louisiana and New York.
The latest cases also follow a lawsuit filed in June by New York and six other states over the Trump administration’s agreement with TotalEnergies to cancel offshore wind leases in exchange for reimbursement of lease payments and a commitment to redirect investment towards US oil and gas projects.
The US offshore renewable energy industry organisation, Oceantic Network, welcomed the announcements of the latest lawsuits filed by New York and California, and pointed out that cancelling offshore wind projects has far-reaching consequences for the US economy.
"When a 1-gigawatt offshore wind project is cancelled, we don’t just lose a project, we lose an estimated $8.5 to $9.5 billion in U.S. economic output. That means roughly 3,350 construction jobs disappear across the country, along with hundreds of millions of dollars in wages that would have gone to American workers and their families. And the impact doesn’t stop at the project site. It reaches businesses, workers, and communities throughout a nationwide supply chain", said Liz Burdock, President & CEO at Oceantic Network.
"These are real economic losses, being felt by American workers when the cost of living is soaring. Oceantic commends California, New York and other East Coast states for standing up once again to challenge actions that threaten jobs, investment, and the nation's ability to meet growing electricity demand with a proven, affordable, and reliable energy source."