President Orders Halt to Offshore Wind Development

Written by Neil Farrell

Neil has been a journalist covering the Estero Bay Area for over 27 years. He’s won numerous journalism awards in several different categories over his career.

January 31, 2025

President Donald Trump’s whirlwind return to the White House immediately created waves after the 47th President ordered a halt to wind energy leasing and permitting on federal lands and ordered a review of the very idea of wind energy.

Executive Order

Trump’s Executive Order with a long-winded titled: “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects,” was issued Jan. 20, shortly after he took the oath of office.

The directive gives marching orders to the Secretaries of the Treasury, Interior, Agriculture and Energy, plus the Attorney General, and EPA Administrator, whose departments all play a part in permitting this fledgling industry.

Environmental Worries

Ironically, Trump, who is derided as an enemy of the environment, cited environmental concerns as well as costs to consumers with the order. 

“Consistent with the principles of responsible public stewardship that are entrusted to this office,” the Executive Order reads, “with due consideration for a variety of relevant factors, including the need to foster an energy economy capable of meeting the country’s growing demand for reliable energy, the importance of marine life, impacts on ocean currents and wind patterns, effects on energy costs for Americans — especially those who can least afford it — and to ensure that the United States is able to maintain a robust fishing industry for future generations and provide low cost energy to its citizens.”

He goes on to list the actions to be taken under authority of the “Offshore Continental Shelf Lands Act” of 1953, which established the U.S.’s claim to the continental shelf from U.S. shores out 200 miles. The Interior Department was given primary jurisdiction.

It’s the same act being used by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management or BOEM (formerly known as the Mineral Management Service or MMS) to lease the offshore wind areas and to review and permit projects (see: www.boem.gov/oil-gas-energy/leasing/ocs-lands-act-history).

Trump’s order, which is likely to be challenged in court, echoes the concerns that OSW opponents and critics have touted for a couple of years now. 

It sounds definitive, too. “This withdrawal temporarily prevents consideration of any area in the OCS for any new or renewed wind energy leasing for the purposes of generation of electricity or any other such use derived from the use of wind.” 

He added that the ban doesn’t apply to oil and gas exploration, which he’s long touted on the campaign trail with the “Drill-baby-drill” mantra. And the order shall remain in effect until it’s rescinded by Trump or a future President.

What About Existing Projects?

The ban on “new” leases raises a pretty big question — what about wind areas that have already been leased? 

Three companies already hold leases for the so called, “Morro Bay Call Area,” a nearly 400-square mile patch of ocean in deep water, 20-30 miles off San Simeon and about 60 miles northwest of Morro Bay. 

The goal has been to install 3 gigawatts of power generation, most likely with turbines of 14-20 megawatts each — though some studies have talked of 5 GWs total. 

A gigawatt is roughly enough power for 750,000 homes.

Another call area off Humboldt County has also been leased to two other companies and is on a parallel permitting path with BOEM.

BOEM has been working on the California offshore wind area — which will have to use floating turbines due to the depth of water — for nearly 10 years and all three companies are well into the environmental studies BOEM is requiring, including controversial sound mapping of the sea floor both in the call area where the turbines would be installed, and the route transmission cables would take to bring the power ashore. 

At this point, one company, Equinor, has completed mapping in the lease area, and obtained a permit from the Coastal Commission to map the cable route through State waters, but the company paused this work.

Morro Bay and now Diablo Canyon Power Plant have been talked about as the landing sites for the power.

BOEM took in over $750 million with the five leases off California. But that money is currently in escrow accounts and would be refunded if the projects were ultimately denied.

All the companies have really done is buy the rights to propose a wind project in their specific area, each roughly 80,000 acres. Each will have to satisfy environmental requirements and mitigations, so there’s never been a guarantee of success.

Questioning Wind Energy

Trump’s order also focuses a critical eye on how the government goes about leasing the continental shelf for energy production and mining, and pulls in all the other departments, too.

“In light of various alleged legal deficiencies underlying the Federal Government’s leasing and permitting of onshore and offshore wind projects,” the order reads, “the consequences of which may lead to grave harm — including negative impacts on navigational safety interests, transportation interests, national security interests, commercial interests, and marine mammals — and in light of potential inadequacies in various environmental reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act to lease or permit wind projects, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of all other relevant agencies, shall not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects pending the completion of a comprehensive assessment and review of Federal wind leasing and permitting practices.”

This assessment will include cost analysis and environmental impacts, in particular to the ocean environment and marine mammals. 

Existing Wind Farms

The President is also concerned about existing wind farms and wants to make sure they are cleaned up and dismantled when they cease power generation.

The order calls on the agencies to inspect existing wind farms on land and order they be removed if non-operational.

In recent years, news stories have been filed about wind turbines in Texas and Oklahoma that have fallen into disrepair, yet remain standing, sometimes on someone else’s property.

Idaho Project Named

Trump also took direct aim at a big wind farm project in Idaho. Magic Valley Energy, LLC, is proposing the Lava Ridge Wind Project, located outside Twin Falls, Idaho. 

BOEM finalized its decision on that project in early December. Trump’s order calls for a review of BOEM’s decision, and a new comprehensive analysis “of the various interests impacted by the Lava Ridge Wind Project.”

Magic Valley Energy proposed 400 turbines, each standing 740-feet tall and covering 84,000 acres for the Lava Ridge project. 

The number was halved and the turbines lowered to about 600 feet under BOEM’s final decision, but State officials, including the Idaho Governor and Legislature, fiercely opposed it.

The Lieutenant Governor of Idaho said in news reports that he worked with Trump’s staff on the Executive Order’s language.

Opponents Happy with Trump

Here at home, the main opponents of offshore wind energy, the REACT Alliance, were pleased with the President’s order.

“REACT Alliance would like to thank President Trump for taking such a decisive stance on stopping the proliferation of offshore wind in the U.S.,” reads a statement released by the group. “The halting of all new Offshore Wind permits will have a significant impact on the future of the industry in California and will make the costly onshore buildout for the extensive plans for new leases by our governor obsolete and absurd. 

“We hope to see a complete reorganization of BOEM and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) as a result of the Department of Interior’s new directives, and eventually an elimination of all federal subsidies to the offshore wind industry.”

The group concedes that their fight isn’t over. “We understand that the process of eliminating OSW on all of our coastlines will be a lengthy and complex process but we at REACT Alliance are confident the new administration is up to the task.”

REACT Alliance is also part of a nationwide coalition of anti-OSW groups stretching from the East Coast to the Gulf Coast and California. 

Calling themselves the “National Offshore-wind Opposition Alliance,” or NOOA (a play on NOAA), the group has gained steadily since being formed last summer.

On Jan. 18, NOOA groups across the country, including in Morro Bay, held a “National Day of Action” in protest to offshore wind energy (see other story, this issue).

NOOA’s been growing steadily even as they have been getting organized, and with President Trump now in their corner, a becalming effect is now blowing over the offshore wind industry.

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