The California Energy Commission (CEC) has served RWE with an administrative investigative subpoena concerning the company’s agreement with the US Department of the Interior to relinquish its offshore wind leases, including the lease for the 1.6 GW Canopy Offshore Wind project off northern California.
The CEC is seeking information and documents related to the agreement and the circumstances surrounding the relinquishment of the California lease. The action follows RWE’s 6 August settlement with the Department of the Interior, under which RWE will receive US$1.22 billion in settlement funds and surrender its offshore wind leases in the New York Bight, off California and off Louisiana.
RWE had secured the California lease, OCS-P 0561, in the 2022 federal offshore wind lease auction. The lease was subsequently assigned to Canopy Offshore Wind. The planned project was intended to have a capacity of approximately 1.6 GW and was located off Humboldt County.
The CEC has already taken similar action in relation to other offshore wind lease buyouts. In June, the commission issued an investigative subpoena to Invenergy concerning its California offshore wind lease. The commission has also announced legal action challenging federal offshore wind lease buyouts.
