In June of 2021, The U.S. Department of the Interior announced that it was considering two areas off the Oregon Coast for offshore wind energy production, and as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.
The areas, approximately 13.8 miles offshore of south-central and southern Oregon, comprise two areas were identified as Coos Bay and Brookings, consisting of about 1,159,298 acres (1,811 square miles), totaling the entire area at approximately 286,444 acres (448 square miles) which were projected to host hundreds of off-shore wind turbines.
As far back as late September, 2024, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management declared that it would be delaying the Oregon auction due to lack of interest, revealing only one of the five companies eligible to bid was still interested.
Similar situations were underway in northern California, with proposed lease areas moving forward just off the coast of Humboldt Bay and Morro Bay including the expansion of 380 windmills across a nearly 400-square-mile expanse of sea 20 miles northwest of Morro Bay.
On Wednesday, July 30th, 2025, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced it is rescinding all designated Wind Energy Areas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, Ending Preferential Treatment for Unreliable, Foreign Controlled Energy Sources in Department Decision-Making – and the Presidential Memorandum of January 20, 2025 – Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects.
By rescinding Wind Energy Areas, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is ending the federal practice of designating large areas of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf for speculative wind development, and is de-designating over 3.5 million acres of unleased federal waters previously targeted for offshore wind development across the Gulf of America, Gulf of Maine, the New York Bight, California, Oregon, and the Central Atlantic.
