Offshore Wind Energy 
[Published October 15, 2026]
Happy Fall! We hope you’re enjoying the changing weather. This month’s edition of the Seabreeze highlights the forward momentum of offshore wind progress while remaining transparent of the challenges ahead. We continue to share the insights and resources along the way, and if you know someone who would benefit from these newsletters, please invite them to Sign Up!
SPOTLIGHT:
Last month the National Wildlife Federation’s Offshore Wind Program went international! We hosted two trips abroad for regional offshore wind advocates to build connections and learn from the offshore wind industry in Europe and the UK.
Our first trip brought advocates from the Gulf to the Netherlands to learn about how the Dutch have approached offshore energy transition and nature inclusive design in their offshore wind project, research, and monitoring efforts. Our second trip brought advocates from New England and the West Coast to Scotland to see floating offshore wind in person and learn from the industry, advocates, and government officials about their experiences with this endeavor.
Stay tuned in the coming months to hear more about how we and other partners are putting the lessons learnt and connections built on these trips into practice.
FEDERAL UPDATES:
In late September, California filed a second lawsuit against the Trump Administration regarding the Invenergy lease buyback. The state claims that the agreement announced on June 17, 2026 between the Department of Interior and Invenergy to abandon the developer’s lease in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area off the California coast is unlawful because it violates the Constitution and numerous federal laws, including the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), Coastal Zone Management Act, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Judgement Fund Act, and Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). California is supposed to be given a say in the offshore wind leasing program under OCSLA, but the state claims that this deal illegally bypassed their input.
On the same day, New York and seven other states announced they are suing the Trump Administration for canceling four other offshore wind projects off the East Coast. One lawsuit challenges the buyback with Bluepoint Wind in the New York Bight and the other lawsuit challenges the buyback of three leases from Invenergy, one in the New York Bight and two in the Gulf of Maine. The lawsuits argue that “the Administration is unlawfully using taxpayer dollars to advance the president’s policy preference for oil and gas development,” and argue that the deals violate the APA, NEPA, OCSLA, the Judgement Fund Act, and other federal spending laws. The states are asking that the courts declare the agreements unlawful, void the lease cancellations, and block the Administration from taking further action to carry out these deals.
STATE AND REGIONAL UPDATES:
NORTHEAST (CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI)
Good news for offshore wind in the Northeast! Revolution Wind, the 65-turbine project that will provide energy to Rhode Island and Connecticut, finished construction on its final turbine. The project sent first power to the New England grid back in March. With turbine construction complete, the project will continue commissioning activities to have the project fully operational later this year.
In Massachusetts, Governor Healey and the Mass Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) announced $4.2 million in funding for 20 projects that will prepare workers for offshore wind and maritime careers, and support research on fisheries, wildlife, and the marine environment. The funding has been awarded to projects through the Offshore Wind Works program and the Offshore Wind Science, Research and Analysis program of the MassCEC. UMass Dartmouth will be one recipient of this funding, receiving three grants from MassCEC totalling $730,000 to expand offshore wind workforce training and support marine research in New England. The three grants cover an offshore wind internship program, research on the potential impacts on cod spawning grounds, and the creation of a regional data-collection strategy to support monitoring efforts in the Gulf of Maine.
This month, New England offshore wind set a new record by producing more electricity than all the gas-fired and hydropower plants in New Hampshire, combined. ISO-New England reported that slightly more than 2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity was coming from wind. At different times of year, 2 GW is the equivalent of powering one-seventh and one-tenth of the region’s total electricity demand.
New Jersey labor unions, environmentalists, and politicians came together in September to renew the call for offshore wind off the Jersey Shore during a press conference at the Iron Workers Local 399 offices. Speakers noted that the recent lease buybacks organized by the federal government with developers has canceled new union job opportunities and will make electricity more expensive for New Jersey residents.
MID-ATLANTIC (DE, MD, NC, VA)
GULF OF MEXICO (LA, TX)
In Texas, NWF presented to Port Arthur Community Action Network on how Texas is involved in offshore wind projects on the East Coast, and how NWF advocates for the responsible development of offshore wind with strong protections for people and wildlife.
NWF also visited with the Rotary Club of Corpus Christi to discuss the recent RWE buyback, responsible offshore wind development, and how offshore wind could benefit wildlife and communities in the Corpus area.
NWF was proud to sponsor HawkWatch International’s annual Celebration of Flight in Corpus Christi. Over the course of three days, attendees learned about responsible offshore wind development, while viewing coastal wind turbines powering the region. On the final day of the event, we held a special screening of our short film Coast to Coast, plus an in-depth discussion with Audubon Texas Coastal Program Senior Manager Alexis Baldera who is featured in the film. Baldera shared promising new research on how offshore wind can be responsibly sited to protect migrating bird populations in Texas.
Offshore Wind advocates primarily from Louisiana and Texas traveled to the Netherlands to learn about their offshore energy transition from fossil fuels to wind energy, and how the country is leading the way in developing and implementing nature inclusive design (NID) approaches in their offshore wind projects. The trip included presentations and robust conversation with Dutch offshore wind professionals, such as developers, researchers and scientists, Dutch transmission operators, monopile construction companies, environmentalists, and more. A particular highlight was our tour of the Ecowende offshore wind facility, where we learned about how the ‘most ecological wind farm yet’ is implementing protections for species, nature inclusive design, and ecological monitoring research.
PACIFIC (CA, HI, OR, WA)
California filed a second lawsuit in September against the Trump Administration challenging the legality of the Invenergy lease buyback. See the federal updates section for more information.
Advocates from Oregon, California, and New England traveled to Scotland to see floating offshore wind up close and learn more about how the industry is continuing to mature in ways that can serve the West Coast and Gulf of Maine when they pursue the floating projects that their deep water requires. The trip included a tour of the Catapult Offshore Wind Innovation Hub where participants learned from experts about new technologies being used and developed for floating offshore wind. Participants also toured the Port of Nigg and Port of Ardersier to see a marshaling port and learn about their ‘consenting process’ – the equivalent of the U.S. permitting process. The trip included a tour of the Kincardine floating offshore wind project off the coast of Aberdeen. Over the course of the week, participants from the West Coast and New England both got to learn from each other and from experts in Scotland about offshore wind port development, operations, and technology innovation making floating offshore wind more scalable.
RESOURCES:
New Report Details Taxpayer Concerns with $3.9 Billion Offshore Wind Lease Buyouts.
Taxpayers for Common Sense Buyback Live Tracker
Recent
NYSERDA’s Learning from the Experts Series: Substation Installation
Thursday, September 10 | Recording
This webinar is the first in a five-part series on offshore construction. Experts from Ventolines will provide a deep dive into the offshore construction and installation processes that bring a project from permitted design to operational wind farm.
NYSERDA’s Learning from the Experts Series: Understanding the Bridge between Existing and New Energy Sources
Wednesday, September 30 | Recording
Sarah Carkner and Jason Frasier with the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) will discuss how new renewable generation integrates into the existing electrical grid and interacts with existing power plants, and the extent to which offshore wind energy could affect older generation assets, their retirement, output, or shift into demand response.
Upcoming
NYSERDA’s Learning from the Experts Series: Offshore Construction Foundation Installation
Thursday, October 8 | 10-11am ET | Register
This webinar is the first in a five-part series on offshore construction. Experts from Ventolines will provide a deep dive into the offshore construction and installation processes that bring a project from permitted design to operational wind farm.
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