California sues Trump administration over offshore wind lease buyout and fossil fuel deal

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission have sued the Trump administration and energy developer Invenergy, describing a June settlement that cancelled offshore wind leases as an unlawful buyout. The Interior Department reimbursed Invenergy for more than $111 million paid for a California lease and paid a total of $765 million to terminate four leases across the New York Bight, the Central Coast of California and the Gulf of Maine, with the money slated for natural-gas plants in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.

Plaintiffs argue the deal violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and other laws, and circumvents congressional caps on lease-cancellation payments. They contend the agreement was not a resolution of any lawsuit and therefore cannot be labeled a settlement. The lawsuit aims to overturn the arrangement, which they say harms clean-energy development and misuses taxpayer funds. This case follows several similar buyout agreements the Trump administration has made, totaling nearly $4 billion, including a $1.22 billion deal with German firm RWE.