Press Releases

U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) issued the statement below following the Trump administration’s announcement that it is paying $120 million in taxpayer dollars to effectively cancel one of the offshore wind projects in Morro Bay.

“I am outraged by this backwards decision to sabotage the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area. In Congress, I championed these projects because they represented a clear win-win-win for the Central Coast. The projects strengthened our energy security, boosted local economic growth, and advanced important environmental protections. Because of a bizarre personal vendetta against wind energy, Donald Trump’s administration is turning a historic opportunity into a historic failure. Beyond the strategic failure of this policy decision, today’s announcement also represents a staggering waste of taxpayer dollars. I won’t let this extreme federal overreach and pressure go unchallenged, and I will continue to fight for the Central Coast’s right to build a greener economy.”

Background on Congressman Carbajal’s Work on Offshore Wind:

Congressman Carbajal has been a champion for offshore wind throughout his time in office.

The Morro Bay Offshore Wind Energy Area is the product of negotiations conducted by Rep. Carbajal’s Offshore Wind Working Group, which was created in August 2019 to coordinate between federal, state, and local partners and is composed of representatives from the offices of Rep. Carbajal and Rep. Panetta (D-CA-19), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Department of Defense (DOD), Department of the Navy, and California Energy Commission (CEC). 

Negotiations had previously stalled amid hesitation from the Navy, until Rep. Carbajal offered an amendment to the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act in order to move the development forward off of Morro Bay and get negotiations back on track.

Following the amendment’s passage in the House, Carbajal secured a written commitment from the Navy indicating a willingness to collaborate with the Working Group to identify an area for development that would meet energy production goals.

As a result of these efforts and support from other local stakeholders and officials, Rep. Carbajal and Biden Administration leaders unveiled an agreement in May 2021 to allow offshore wind development off the coast of Morro Bay.

The lease sites for this and other areas off the California coast were announced in 2022.