While the Trump administration is taking extraordinary measures to halt the development of offshore wind energy in the United States, Southern California is pushing ahead with a $4.7 billion plan to deploy hundreds of giant wind turbines in the waters off the state’s coast.
Proposed Pier Wind Project The Port of Long Beach has a 400-acre terminal for positioning, storing and assembling some of the world’s largest offshore wind turbines, which will be transported north to federal wind lease areas about 20 miles away in Morrow and Humboldt Bay.
offshore wind is a Major Climate Solutions And officials say the project is critical to helping California reach its goal 25 GW of offshore wind power by 2045. The Port of Long Beach is one of only two areas prepared for assembly work; The other is Humboldt Harbor near Eureka. The port will prepare land for the project through a large-scale dredge-and-fill operation in the water.
This is the second in a timely series on the state of the energy transition in California amid opposition to the Trump administration.
California’s approach is to step up offshore wind preparations under its jurisdiction, preparing ports and power grids to eventually take power from 1,000 turbines in federal waters. It aims to wait out the current administration, which is notoriously resistant to a form of renewable energy that is growing rapidly elsewhere in the world.
“We’re just moving forward with all the things under our control because port infrastructure takes a long time,” Suzanne Plezia, managing director of engineering services with the Port of Long Beach, said on a recent catamaran ride around the port’s cranes and cargo towers. This work is to be completed within a decade.
“We are in it for the long term because we believe offshore wind is part of our energy future,” he said.
The state’s action is a form of defiance against the Trump administration, which has taken more than two dozen actions against offshore wind energy since the president’s second term began in January 2025, including canceling half a billion dollars In funding the preparation of the port at Humboldt.
Recently, the White House launched a series unprecedented deals Energy companies that had offshore wind leases in federal waters had to pay nearly $2 billion to abandon their plans and instead invest in American oil and gas projects. Wind lease areas are expanses of ocean designated by the US government for potential offshore wind development.
One of those deals was with Golden State Wind, which owned one of five leases off the coast of California. are state officials Testng The deal, which also includes a shaper Details about the payments have been requested from the California Energy Commission.
“The procedural word is not ‘resistance’ – it’s ‘creation,'” David Hochschild, chairman of the California Energy Commission, told hundreds of attendees. Pacific Offshore Wind Summit Recently in Long Beach.
A rendering of the proposed Pier Wind project at the Port of Long Beach.
(Port of Long Beach)
They included regulators, lawmakers, investors and industry representatives from the U.S. and abroad who said they were optimistic about the prospects for offshore wind and vowed to stick with its plans. They point to the United Kingdom, where about a fifth of electricity generation now comes from offshore wind.
But questions about whether President Trump’s actions are succeeding in slowing California’s and America’s progress also loomed large throughout the summit.
Much of the uncertainty is around financing, whether investors still see offshore wind as a smart place to put money.
“We’re asking ourselves, do we want to do offshore wind at all?” Sean Boyd, executive director of EY Parthenon, a division of Ernst & Young that advises investors and companies, said during a panel discussion.
While California is still on track toward its 2045 goal, it is not on track to meet its 2030 goal of 2 to 5 gigawatts of offshore wind.
Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom released about half of a $475 million tranche of Proposition 4 funding for offshore wind projects, but has not yet released the rest. The latest draft of Newsom’s 2026-27 budget will be Deferral the remaining $241 million For a future year – and by default, a future governor.
But California’s efforts are also unprecedented. While most of the world’s offshore wind energy is tied to the ocean floor, including off the US East Coast, turbines off California would need to float because the ocean is so deep here. The state’s planned lease areas are between 1,600 and 4,200 feet, deeper than any other floating wind farm in the world.
“There is a lot of risk in this first-of-its-kind technology,” Boyd said. “But the biggest fundamental risk in all of this is market risk. Is there a long-term floating offshore wind market in California?”
Many state officials say the answer is clearly yes.
“California cannot allow this instability in Washington to derail our long-term climate and energy goals,” said Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zabar (D-Los Angeles). “We have to continue planning, we have to continue investing, we have to continue building, because offshore wind is one of the most important tools we have.”
The Trump administration has turned offshore wind into a political football by describing the technology.CriminalAnd there are national security threats that are limiting U.S. energy dominance. Trump argues that offshore wind is expensive and intermittent because it depends on gusts of wind.
But experts say it is part of a strong clean energy portfolio, complementing other renewable sources such as solar power and battery energy storage. Many supporters are biding their time until the next elections.
“Will offshore wind exist in California and the United States?”. asked Jim Lanard, co-founder and chief executive of developer Magellan Wind. “I say strongly yes – and it will move very quickly in 2029.”
However, some residents of the state are opposed, including San Luis Obispo-based members reaction alliance, Which views offshore wind as a threat to coastal communities and the marine environment. The group said it lobbied the Trump administration to keep its deal with Golden State Wind, and now it is urging Equinor, one of the leaseholders, to make a similar deal and walk away from its plans off the Central Coast.
Other groups, including local tribes and environmental justice organizations, are closely watching the state’s efforts for potential impacts such as sediment disruption and erosion, changes in whale migration and pollution from construction. Wilmington, Carson and other communities around the Port of Long Beach already face some of the worst air quality in the region.
But many offshore wind believers say the train has already left the station. Globally, the market is growing rapidly, led by China, which will install 6.6 GW of new offshore wind capacity in 2025, taking its cumulative total capacity to 48.4 GW, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.
Some said the need for the technology will only increase as artificial intelligence data centers increase energy demand, along with rising electricity costs and oil supply disruptions caused by the war with Iran.
“This is an important moment for energy,” said Noel Hasegaba, chief executive of the Port of Long Beach. “The rising cost of fuel is accelerating the case for domestically produced electricity and energy independence. …This is renewable energy’s moment.”
The excitement was palpable as the catamaran circled the future site of Pier Wind, which recently received $20 million grant From the California Energy Commission. Plans include a large pier with a staging area for turbine components, as well as a “wet storage” area for the units to be stored in the water, among other elements.
Depending on final specifications, Pier Wind will be able to assemble one or two turbines per week, each of which will be as tall as the Eiffel Tower and capable of generating 20 to 25 megawatts of wind energy. Once transported to leased areas of the coast, their power will flow back to land through underwater floating cables and, ultimately, tie into the state’s main grid.
“The world is watching to see what California does next,” Hasegaba said.
