Offshore Wind Energy 
[Published June 26, 2026]
Happy summer! The tides continue to turn as we see some progress forward and unfortunate setbacks. We remain committed to sharing all of the highs and lows as we continue to navigate the dynamic climate of the sector–if you know of anyone that would benefit from these updates please invite them to Sign Up!
SPOTLIGHT:
After a third buyback announcement on June 15 including another lease area off the California coast, the state is fighting back against the federal government’s decision to terminate offshore wind lease areas that would provide California residents with reliable and affordable clean energy.
On June 23, California’s Attorney General and the California Energy Commission announced its intent to sue the Department of the Interior over its agreement with Golden State Wind to terminate the company’s Morro Bay offshore wind lease, arguing that the deal fails to comply with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act obligations, its implementing regulations, and associated requirements, including that the agreement unlawfully bypasses required state involvement in offshore wind leasing decisions.
FEDERAL UPDATES:
On June 17, the Trump Administration announced an additional $765 million offshore wind lease buyback agreement between the Department of the Interior and Invenergy, bringing total federal expenditures on offshore wind lease buybacks to approximately $2.6 billion this year. Under the agreement, Invenergy will relinquish two offshore wind leases in the Gulf of Maine, one in the New York Bight, and one in California’s Morro Bay region and redirect the funds toward gas plant investments in the Midwest and geothermal projects in the West.
The latest buyback mirrors similar agreements reached earlier this year with TotalEnergies ($1 billion), Global Infrastructure Partners ($765 million), and Golden State Wind ($120 million). Collectively, these agreements have resulted in the abandonment of offshore wind leases in the Gulf of Maine, Carolina Long Bay, New York Bight, and California, including several projects that had advanced beyond leasing and into site assessment activities, with at least one project having submitted a Construction and Operations Plan to BOEM.
See NWF’s statement on the latest buyback here.
U.S. Senators Cortez Masto (D-NV), Gallego (D-AZ), Wyden (D-OR), and Hickenlooper (D-CO) send a letter to the leadership of Interior-Environment and Energy-Water Appropriations subcommittees calling them to impose guardrails on the Trump Administration’s blocking of solar and wind projects as part of FY27 appropriations bills. Democrats say appropriations leadership should prevent agencies from carrying out actions subject to a recent U.S. district court ruling, which blocked a Department of Interior (DOI) order requiring Secretary Doug Burgum’s personal approval for routine solar and wind permitting activities.
The Senate Armed Services Committee approved its FY27 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on June 17. The committee has yet to release the full text, but early reporting suggests Senator King (I-ME) successfully introduced an amendment to the act to revise the statute governing the Pentagon’s involvement in wind project permits. The purported amendment modifies the Department of Defense Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Siting Clearinghouse review process responsible for evaluating proposed energy projects to ensure they do not interfere with military radar, training routes, and national security. Nine renewable energy groups have accused the Department of Defense of relying on the permitting process to intentionally stall more than 100 wind projects for more than a year. These groups filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon on this matter on May 31.
Litigation
NY et al. v. Trump: On June 15, the federal government voluntarily dismissed its appeal of the district court’s decision, leaving in place the ruling that the implementation of Section 2 of the January 20, 2025 Presidential Memorandum (commonly referred to as the “Wind Ban”) is unlawful. As a result, the district court’s judgment vacating Section 2 in its entirety remains in effect. NWF’s statement is available here.
Renew NE et al. v. DOI et al.: On June 16, Judge Denise J. Casper denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss the case and granted preliminary injunctive relief to the plaintiffs with respect to all five challenged actions. On June 17, the federal government appealed the district court’s preliminary injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, but the injunction remains in effect while the appeal proceeds. Pending further proceedings, the federal government is prohibited from a number of actions including: 1) Implementing the DOI Review Procedures Memorandum, which subjects certain DOI actions to review by political appointees; 2) Enforcing the Wind and Solar Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC) Ban, which restricts wind and solar developers’ access to critical federal planning and consultation tools; 3) Applying the “capacity density” test, which prioritizes projects based on energy generation per acre, thus disadvantages wind and solar projects; 4) Implementing Part 4(c) of the Army Corps of Engineers memorandum directing preference for projects with higher energy generation per acre; and 5) Enforcing the Zerzan M-Opinion, which interprets the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit renewable energy leasing whenever any interference with other reasonable ocean uses may occur, a standard that plaintiffs argue would significantly constrain offshore renewable energy development.
Renewable NW et al. v. Hegseth: On May 31, Renewable Northwest and other plaintiffs filed suit against the Department of Defense, challenging what they describe as a de facto nationwide freeze on utility-scale wind energy development. The complaint alleges that, since August 2025, the Department has suspended review and processing of wind energy mitigation agreements, preventing numerous projects from advancing through the federal approval process.
State of New York et al. v. DOI et al.: On June 2, seven states, led by the State of New York, filed suit against the Department of the Interior and other defendants, including Attentive Energy LLC as an interested party, challenging the lease buyback of Attentive Energy’s offshore wind lease off the coast of New York. Legal proceedings continue in two other cases regarding project-specific approvals. Litigation concerning SouthCoast Wind’s federal approvals remains ongoing following a court-approved remand by Judge Tanya Chutkan that allowed BOEM to reconsider the project’s Construction and Operations Plan approval. Litigation concerning New England Wind also remains ongoing while the court considers the federal government’s request to remand and reconsider the project’s COP approval.
STATE AND REGIONAL UPDATES:
NORTHEAST (CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI)
In the Northeast, nine states and the District of Columbia are exploring opportunities to develop an offshore transmission network along the Atlantic Coast to improve reliability and reduce electricity costs. The Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission published a trio of reports around technical standards and policy recommendations to advance the high-voltage direct current HVDC transmission line. Read the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs statement here.
From Connecticut, the Sierra Club highlighted the cost savings resulting from Revolution Wind to celebrate Global Wind Day in the Hartford Courant. “Offshore wind is a domestic, American-made energy source that can help free New England from its overreliance on volatile fossil fuel markets,” Julianna Larue writes. “Unlike natural gas, wind power is not subject to fuel price spikes, global market disruptions, or supply constraints during extreme weather. Projects like Revolution Wind will deliver clean, homegrown electricity, lower energy costs for consumers, and strengthen our energy independence.”
In celebration of Global Wind Day, Sierra Club New Jersey hosted “Offshore Wind In New Jersey Webinar: Challenges, Regional Success, and What’s Next” to discuss the status of projects in New Jersey, more about success stories from projects in New York and Massachusetts, and their real world impacts like job creation and wildlife protections. A recording of the event can be found here.
MID-ATLANTIC (DE, MD, NC, VA)
A new report from the Charles River Associates, The impact of offshore wind in meeting coastal and inland load growth in PJM examines the stress electric utility company, PJM Interconnection, is now facing and how offshore wind energy can help alleviate it. The report states that “PJM is facing twin reliability and affordability challenges — as demand grows five times faster than its historical rate driven by data centers, semiconductor fabrication and assembly plants, and industrial electrification.” This growing demand is going to increase reliability risks, but offshore wind energy can help move the PJM closer to meeting the emerging capacity gap. See the recorded webinar below to learn more about this report.
From Delaware, the Sierra Club and the Delaware Nature Society penned an op-ed titled “Can we afford to wait for offshore wind” in which they argue that with the rise in energy prices, we need to work towards offshore wind now to make prices more affordable: “When fuel costs rise, we see it in our electric bills. In contrast, the prices of electricity from offshore wind are set in long-term contracts with the purchasers, keeping them stable.”
In Maryland, local news outlets are highlighting how a federal court fight over offshore wind in Massachusetts could impact the ongoing legal battle over the proposed US Wind project off the coast of the state. The Maryland lawsuit was filed in 2024 by the Town of Ocean City and other plaintiffs challenging BOEM’s approval of US Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP), and in April of this year, the plaintiffs requested the federal judge reverse the BOEM approval without bringing the case to trial. On June 12, the federal government asked the judge for more time to respond, now citing the separate Massachusetts case, in which renewable energy organizations argue that the administration’s actions unlawfully target wind and solar development. The judge in this Massachusetts case found that renewable energy groups were likely to succeed, and thus temporarily blocked enforcement of several agency directives, including the Zerzan M-Opinion under which the US Wind COP was being reevaluated, while the case proceeded.
In Virginia, the sale of 32 acres to Dominion Energy in a Virginia Beach business park was approved at a Development Authority meeting early this month. The land will be used for an offshore wind substation and grid connection point to serve a wind project planned off the coast of North Carolina. The 40,000-acre offshore wind lease named Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind South (formerly Kitty Hawk North) is located roughly 27 miles off the coast of North Carolina’s Outer Banks and is in the early planning stages.
The sale approval follows a Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority meeting on June 5 in which the director of the State Energy Office Vince Maiden said that despite the “current situation with the federal administration,” there are “things we can do to position [ourselves] moving forward and capitalize on future opportunities.”
GULF OF MEXICO (LA, TX)
Texan by Nature chatted with Shannon Flores, NWF Offshore Wind Texas outreach coordinator. “I’m a native Texan and the great-granddaughter of an East Texas roughneck who worked in the oil fields and granddaughter of a Gulf Oil geologist. I spent many car rides heading west on US 190 to Midland to visit family, viewing (and smelling) the oil and gas infrastructure that dots West Texas,” says Flores. “But, for almost twenty years, Texas has been quietly leading the nation in onshore wind energy production.” Flores writes that Texans are still missing out on one of the most important benefits – renewable, reliable, domestic power delivered to Texas homes and businesses. Texas could extend our leadership in renewable energy, all while protecting the wildlife and wild spaces we love.
The National Wildlife Federation recently visited Galveston for events engaging the community about the benefits of offshore wind and how Texas is already an important player in the supply chain. Our first stop was the beach, where we celebrated the ocean at the World Ocean Day festival. Then we headed to Texas A&M-Galveston (TAMUG) for a screening of our offshore wind film followed by discussions with TAMUG researchers, NWF, Healthy Gulf, Audubon Texas, and Galveston Bay Foundation
PACIFIC (CA, HI, OR, WA)
The California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) adopted the Blueprint for Building a West Coast Science Collaborative of Offshore Wind (WCSC) at their June 16 meeting. The Blueprint WCSC establishes a framework for coordinated, independent environmental monitoring and research to understand and minimize offshore wind impacts on the California coast. The Blueprint WCSC can be viewed here. The OPC will now lead activities to advance a ‘Science Questions, Priorities and Needs Assessment’ and identify Tribal monitoring priorities and recommendations.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process is underway for the Heavy Lift Terminal proposed for the Humboldt Bay to support offshore wind energy development off the coast of California. The Humboldt Harbor District hosted a public meeting to get early input on this process on June 24 and a public comment period is expected in August.
Also in California, the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation (CMSF) published their California Offshore Wind Environmental Monitoring Framework this month. The report was written with input from 200 scientific experts, in coordination with the OPC and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to act as a state-wide framework to develop monitoring plans for taxa and habitats potentially impacted by floating offshore wind to minimize and mitigate negative impacts on marine ecosystems and communities. A webinar recording introducing the framework can be found here.
The last Oregon Offshore Wind Energy Roadmap Roundtable meeting took place on June 23. Roundtable members reviewed a redlined version of the nearly final Roadmap highlighting changes made to the document since the meeting in May to assure changes meet the intent of the input since that meeting. The final version of the Roadmap is expected to be delivered to the Oregon State Legislature by the end of July.
RESOURCES:
Recent
Celebrate Global Wind Day
Wednesday, June 10th at 7pm EST | Recording
Join the National Wildlife Federation’s Offshore Wind Energy Program and our partners to celebrate the progress we’ve made building offshore wind responsibly, despite the serious political headwinds. You’ll hear from experts about the successful projects operating in the Northeast, the economic benefits and opportunities for good paying jobs in the American-made supply chain, and why offshore wind is so important for protecting wildlife and communities from the threats of climate change.
PJM Under Pressure: Will Proposed Reform Meet the Moment?
Friday, June 12 | Recording
All eyes are on the grid operator PJM Interconnection as it readies an ambitious plan to avert a reliability crisis and maintain affordability in the face of unprecedented demand growth. PJM is in the process of speeding through several significant reforms to its policies and markets, recently warning its stakeholders that it, and the roughly 65 million Americans it serves, is “on a collision course of time versus supply shortfall
Offshore Wind in NJ Webinar – Challenges, Regional Successes, and What’s Next
Tuesday, June 16 | Recording
Join New Jersey Wind Works this Global Wind Day for an engaging educational webinar that breaks down where offshore wind stands in New Jersey today, what’s next, and why it matters for our economy, environment, and affordable energy future. The webinar will wrap up with practical ways you can take action to support offshore wind and clean energy in New Jersey, including bringing a clean energy resolution to your town.
Introducing the California Offshore Wind Environmental Monitoring Framework
Tuesday, June 23 | Recording
Hear a breakdown of the status of projects in NJ, more about success stories from projects in NY and MA and their real world impacts like job creation and wildlife protections, and round out with what you can do to support clean energy locally right now.
Upcoming
NYSERDA’s Learning from the Experts Series: Protected Species Observers for Offshore Wind
Wednesday, July 15 | 12 – 1 PM ET | Register
In this webinar, Sarah Fortuna with A.I.S. Inc. will discuss the work of protected species observers in infrastructure development in the marine environment, including offshore wind development. This webinar is part of the Learning from the Experts series hosted by NYSERDA’s Offshore Wind Team and featuring experts in key offshore wind topics, including wind farm technologies, development practices, regulatory processes, and research initiatives.
Watt’s Offshore? Harnessing Wind Power In Texas
Thursday, July 16 | 6:30-7:30 pm CDT | Register
Join the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter and National Wildlife Federation for a webinar to hear how your voice and your organizing can play a critical role in making sure wind energy – both onshore and offshore – is a core part of Texas’ energy mix for years to come.