N.D. CAL.Litigation
California and Energy Commission sue Trump administration over $111 million Morro Bay offshore wind lease buyout
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission sued the Department of the Interior, federal officials, and Invenergy California Offshore in federal court on Tuesday. The fifty-four-page complaint challenges a June 2026 agreement paying Invenergy over $111 million to surrender its two-gigawatt Morro Bay offshore wind lease. California alleges the buyout violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and constitutional spending limits while requiring fossil-fuel investments.
Filing (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California) → · Associated Press, The Morning Call, California Department of Justice +1
Key points
- The complaint filed in Northern California federal court names Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Attorney General Todd Blanche as defendants.U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- Invenergy originally paid over $111 million in 2022 for Lease OCS-P 0565, planning a floating wind facility generating two gigawatts.U.S. District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaCalifornia Department of Justice
- The settlement requires Invenergy affiliates to redirect $111 million into out-of-state conventional fossil fuel or geothermal energy developments.U.S. District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaCalifornia Department of Justice
- California asserts the administration improperly used the federal Judgment Fund to cancel the lease without any pending or threatened litigation.U.S. District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaCalifornia Department of Justice
- The state asks the court to vacate the cancellation and order Invenergy to return compensation exceeding statutory OCSLA limits.U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Sources5 articles across 5 outlets · 12 in the cluster
Associated Press
California Department of Justice
California Energy Commission
The Morning Call
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California