Offshore Wind Energy 
[Published April 7, 2026]
This past month in offshore wind brings a mix of major setbacks and meaningful wins. In this edition of the Seabreeze, we discuss what’s slowing the industry down—and what’s driving it forward. If you know someone who would benefit from these insights, feel free to invite them to Subscribe!
SPOTLIGHT: U.S. Department of the Interior, TotalEnergies reach agreement to terminate the company’s offshore wind projects off the coasts of New York, North Carolina
| On March 23, the U.S. Department of the Interior and French energy company TotalEnergies reached an agreement for TotalEnergies to terminate the company’s offshore wind projects and relinquish its leases off the coasts of New York and North Carolina. The buy-back conditions require TotalEnergies to invest $928 million in an LNG plant in Texas, upstream conventional oil in the Gulf, and shale gas production, before receiving an equivalent reimbursement from the federal government for the two offshore wind lease areas they purchased in auctions in 2022. This deal threatens marine ecosystems, including endangered whales, by accelerating oil and gas activity while undermining renewable energy goals and State commitments to zero emissions. |
FEDERAL UPDATES:
The federal government has announced a rare convening of the Endangered Species Committee, known as the God Squad, a high-level committee with the authority to override species protections, even if doing so risks extinction. The Committee convened for the first time in over 30 years and unanimously voted to exempt oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico from Endangered Species Act protections, putting critically endangered species, such as the Rice’s whale (which currently has a population of approximately 50 individuals), at risk. Exempting oil and gas activities will increase ship traffic, noise pollution, and the risk of oil spills in the Rice’s whale’s already limited habitat, further degrading critical feeding and breeding areas and pushing the species closer to extinction. Learn more about this development here.
In federal litigation news, the federal government filed a motion to dismiss Renew NE et. al. v. DOI et. al. on March 16, with plaintiffs filing a memorandum of law in opposition to the motion to dismiss on March 24. This case is challenging six final agency actions that would downgrade wind and solar energy to “second-class” status, below fossil fuel and nuclear projects. The federal government filed an appeal in NY et. al. v. Trump on February 17 after a federal judge ruled the Administration’s “wind order” was illegal and lacked the necessary evidence to halt offshore wind projects. The First Circuit Court of the United States accepted the appeal. In March, 120 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Energy Bills Relief Act which would reinstate tax credits for home and system-wide energy improvements, reward utility companies for making their systems more efficient, provide financial assistance to American families, address price gouging, require facilities like data centers to pay for their own energy costs, and provide greater regulatory certainty for projects already in the pipeline.
STATE AND REGIONAL UPDATES:
NORTHEAST (CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI)
Good news for offshore wind energy from the Northeast! Construction on Vineyard Wind 1 finished this month! This 62-turbine project off the coast of Massachusetts will generate 800 MW of power for the Commonwealth, enough power for 400,000 homes, and will eliminate 1.68 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to removing 325,000 vehicles from the roads. Once the final turbines undergo commissioning and testing, the project will officially be complete 11 years after its lease auction.
Revolution Wind also began sending power to the grid this past month after the Department of Justice missed the deadline to appeal the preliminary injunction on its lease suspension. Once complete, this project’s 65 turbines will generate 704 MW of power for Rhode Island and Connecticut. It is the nation’s first multi-state offshore wind project, serving as a model for future cross-state collaboration.
Power from these two projects will help improve grid reliability during times when power is needed the most. A study from Union of Concerned Scientists demonstrated that Revolution Wind and Vineyard Wind would have reduced New England’s blackout risk by 55% if it had been operational during the winter of 2024-2025.
In Rhode Island, a judge rejected NEPA claims against South Fork Wind that federal regulators did not protect ocean views from being affected by the project. The judge stated that South Fork Wind worked with the coastal community to reduce the number of turbines from 15 to 12 and to use a paint color which would reduce the visibility of the structures during the day.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) on Consideration of a Predevelopment Offshore Wind Energy Support Program to gather interested parties’ input and inform future clean energy planning and policy development. NWF submitted a response letter to this RFI emphasizing that New York can play a critical stabilizing role for offshore wind by protecting permitted projects, advancing transmission, strengthening regional coordination, investing in research, leveraging project data, and proactively countering misinformation.
Check out this article from Sierra Club Magazine about our National Wildlife Federation tour of South Fork Wind!
MID-ATLANTIC (DE, MD, NC, VA)
March in the Mid-Atlantic provided advocates of responsible offshore wind energy with two steps forward and one step back.
In Virginia, Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project is now online and sending power to the grid. Republican Congresswoman Jen Kiggans said, “This project is not just about energy — it’s about national security. Reliable, domestically produced power strengthens the resilience of critical military infrastructure, including our local bases, ensuring our forces can operate without disruption.“ The project is approximately 70% complete.
In Delaware, the Court of Chancery upheld a challenge to a new law, which will override the 2024 Sussex County Council vote to deny a permit for an electrical substation. Senate Bill 159, which passed in June 2025, stated that no county can deny permits for electrical substations that meet zoning standards. This court victory will allow US Wind’s project to continue.
Meanwhile in North Carolina, TotalEnergies reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of the Interior to relinquish its offshore wind leases, including one off of the state and redirect its investment to oil and gas development in and around Texas. For North Carolina, the loss of this project will deprive the state of around 1,300 MW of power, enough to power about 300,000 homes.
GULF OF MEXICO (LA, TX)
In March, the National Wildlife Federation was a proud sponsor of the 11th annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Climate Change Conference in New Orleans (photos below). The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice co-hosted the conference, which brought together 455 participants from 42 HBCUs across the nation as well as climate professionals and environmental justice leaders.
NWF’s partners at Environment Texas are hosting Clean Energy Forums to highlight the increased pressure the environment and communities are facing from land degradation, water strain, air pollution, and the loss of vital wildlife habitat. These community events will culminate in a summit in Austin on April 7, where NWF will participate in a panel discussion about best practices to reduce impacts of clean energy projects (see our Upcoming Events for more information).
The nearly $1 billion lease buy-back of TotalEnergies New York and North Carolina leases was signed during the CERAWeek energy conference hosted by S&P Global in Texas. One specific project being funded will be Rio Grande LNG, a Brownsville, TX natural gas export facility owned by Houston-based NextDecade.
PACIFIC (CA, HI, OR, WA)
Public comment periods and group letters to state leaders took priority on the West Coast in March.
In California, NWF and partner organizations shared a letter with Governor Gavin Newsom, state legislative leaders, and relevant state commissioners regarding the proposed location of the CADEMO Offshore Wind Project in state waters and within the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.. All signatories of the letter support responsibly sited and operated floating offshore wind power, but raised concerns that the “project would result in significant impacts to sensitive marine ecosystems and wildlife that cannot be adequately avoided, minimized, or mitigated.”
The West Coast Science Collaborative, created by the California Ocean Protection Council, released a Draft Blueprint outlining its proposed purpose, goals, governance structure, and initial activities with a request for public feedback through April 1. NWF joined national and local partners to submit collaborative comments on the plan. This entity largely replicates the structure, function, and purpose of its East Coast counterpart, the Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative, to create a collaborative space for the transparent collection, generation, and review of science on offshore wind energy’s impacts to wildlife.
In Oregon, the Department of Land Conservation and Development released the Oregon Draft Offshore Wind Roadmap for public comment. An extension was granted to the public and comments are now due on April 27. The potential pathways for offshore wind in Oregon include 1) No Offshore Wind Energy; 2) Economic Participation in Offshore Wind Energy; 3) Pilot Project; and, 4) One to more than three gigawatts of responsible offshore wind energy. NWF is leading two collaborative comments for this docket, including a conservation focused comment and a broader community comment focused on issues of interest to multiple sectors.
Additionally in Oregon, the Oregon Department of Energy is seeking public comment on the Draft Gap Measures and Scenarios for the Transformational Integrated Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction (TIGHGER) 2.0 Project. The TIGHGER 2.0 Project aims to assess Oregon’s progress toward meeting the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.
RESOURCES:
Oceantic Report
Offshore Wind Can Drive $42 Billion in U.S. Steel Demand
Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA)
How States Can Address Load Growth While Decarbonizing | Associated Webinar
Upcoming
Union of Concerned Scientists and New England for Offshore Wind:
Powering Through Winter: Offshore Wind, Energy Affordability, and a Healthy New England Grid Webinar
April 15 at 12pm EST | Register
Turn Forward: Offshore Wind Public Opinion Polling Webinar
April 8 at 2pm EST | Register
NYSERDA’s Learning from the Experts Series: How Offshore Wind Can Bolster Grid Reliability
April 29 at 12pm EST | Register
Offshore Wind California: Pacific Offshore Wind Summit
May 18-20 | Long Beach, CA | Register