California plans to sue the Trump administration over the deal it reached this spring to wipe out a floating wind project off the state’s central coast.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, said in a Tuesday notice of intent to sue that the Interior Department deal to cancel Golden State Wind would hurt California’s clean energy and climate goals. The project was expected to provide electricity to about 1.1 million homes.
“At a time when the country needs more reliable and sustainable power supply, the Trump Administration is busy using taxpayer money to strike backroom buyouts that make clean-energy projects disappear,” Bonta said in a statement accompanying the notice. The document opens a 60-day window for the administration to address the state’s concerns before litigation begins.
Interior reached an agreement in April to pay about $120 million in lease fees to Golden State Wind to end development on the 2-gigawatt project in California’s Morro Bay. The company agreed to instead invest in fossil fuel development along the Gulf Coast.
