California on Monday responded to the Trump administration’s recent effort to kill a major West Coast offshore wind project by launching an investigation.
What happened: California Energy Commission Executive Director Drew Bohan sent a letter to Golden State Wind LLC saying that his agency had opened an investigation into the “premature relinquishment” of its federal offshore wind lease and potential violations of the law.
The CEC issued the company an administrative investigative subpoena demanding communications with the Department of the Interior, the federal agency that manages offshore wind leases.
A California Department of Justice attorney wrote in an attached letter that “we … anticipate potential litigation involving the federal government and parties to lease buyouts impacting California’s energy needs and offshore wind programs.”
