The Trump administration has forced a California offshore wind project backed by Canadian pension savings to abandon its development and reinvest the equivalent of its $120 million US lease fees into American oil and gas, or walk away with nothing.
Golden State Wind was a floating offshore wind development planned for the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area off California’s central coast. Its parent, Reventus Power, is a UK-based wholly owned subsidiary of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which had over C$1 billion invested in wind power generation through Reventus as of 2024.
Under the deal with the US Department of the Interior, Golden State Wind relinquished its offshore wind lease and agreed to forgo all future US offshore wind development. The federal government will reimburse $120 million — but only after the company invests an equivalent amount in US oil and gas assets, energy infrastructure, or LNG projects along the Gulf Coast.
This is the second round of what critics have called a taxpayer-funded campaign to dismantle the US offshore wind industry. In March, the DOI paid TotalEnergies approximately $1 billion — a refund of its offshore wind leases off North Carolina and New York — contingent on reinvesting in fossil fuel projects.
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Last week’s announcement added Golden State Wind at $120 million and Bluepoint Wind — an early-stage project off New Jersey and New York — at $765 million, both co-owned by Ocean Winds, a joint venture of EDP Renewables and Engie.
The buyouts appear to be a workaround after Trump’s executive order halting federal wind approvals was struck down in federal court by a coalition of state attorneys general.
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Canadian pension money is now forced to choose between complying with a US demand to subsidize fossil fuel development or absorbing the $120 million in lease fees already paid. A separate US$30 million CPPIB committed to California workforce development and supply chain initiatives linked to the project is not included in the DOI agreement and may not be recoverable.
Related: Trump Halts East Coast Wind Farms Over Security Concerns
Patrick DeRochie of Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, a Canadian pension watchdog, said “Canadians would be horrified to learn that millions of dollars from the Canada Pension Plan are being diverted — potentially illegally — to advance the Trump administration’s fossil fuel agenda instead of being invested in renewable energy as intended.” CPPIB declined to answer specific questions, redirecting to Reventus Power.
The California Energy Commission subpoenaed Golden State Wind on May 4, demanding documents on the DOI agreement. Commission chair David Hochschild called it a “backroom deal” that “turns back the clock on innovation,” adding that “taxpayer dollars should be used to build a sustainable energy future, not to pay to make projects disappear.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the deal as part of Trump’s “Energy Dominance Agenda,” arguing that offshore wind leases sold in 2022 were “only viable when propped up by massive taxpayer subsidies.”
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