The California Energy Commission has launched an investigation into a Trump administration deal that pays a wind energy company to walk away from a major offshore project, escalating a state-federal clash over renewable energy policy.
On Monday, the commission issued an administrative subpoena to Golden State Wind, the developer behind a proposed floating offshore wind farm off California's central coast. The agency is demanding documents and information about the company's agreement with the Department of the Interior to accept a payout in exchange for voluntarily relinquishing its lease.
“The Trump administration is recklessly spending billions of taxpayer dollars on backroom deals that would turn back the clock on innovation,” California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild said in a statement. “Californians deserve immediate answers about the nature of this payout. Taxpayer dollars should be used to build a sustainable energy future, not to pay to make projects disappear.”
The subpoena is part of a broader state effort to block the administration's strategy of using federal funds to dismantle offshore wind development. The Trump administration has allocated nearly $2 billion to induce energy companies to abandon offshore wind leases, a move that follows court defeats of President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting the industry.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the buyouts, arguing that companies were sold “a product that was only viable when propped up by massive taxpayer subsidies” when they bid for the leases under former President Joe Biden in 2022. The administration has announced three such agreements so far.
The first deal, made public in March, gave French oil giant TotalEnergies $1 billion—effectively a refund of its leases off North Carolina and New York—on the condition the money be invested in fossil fuel projects. The latest agreements, announced last week, provide Golden State Wind and Bluepoint Wind with nearly $900 million in reimbursements, also requiring equivalent investment in fossil fuels.
Both Golden State and Bluepoint are co-owned by Ocean Winds, a joint venture of EDP Renewables and French energy giant Engie. Bluepoint Wind was an early-stage offshore wind project off the coasts of New Jersey and New York. When asked about the subpoena, Ocean Winds said it does not comment on open or potential litigation.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office sent a letter to Golden State Wind warning that the state anticipates potential litigation involving the federal government and parties to lease buyouts that could impact California's energy needs and offshore wind programs. The state has invested roughly $100 million to support offshore wind development as part of its clean energy transition and climate change strategy.
Environmental justice groups are closely watching the fight. “This investigation sets the stage for legal action from California to safeguard renewable energy, as well as the thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of investment the state was counting on,” said Eddie Ahn, executive director of Brightline Defense, an environmental justice nonprofit working to advance offshore wind in California.
Democrats in Congress are also probing the deals. U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman of California, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, and Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, are demanding information about the TotalEnergies agreement. The California Energy Commission's subpoena marks a new front in the state's effort to preserve its renewable energy ambitions against the Trump administration's push to revive fossil fuel development. Meanwhile, the administration's broader regulatory rollbacks continue to draw scrutiny.
