CED Newsletters & Policy Alerts

Action: Presidential Memorandum “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf From Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects” 

What it does: The Memorandum places a moratorium, of indeterminate length, on leasing or any other approval stage for wind energy products on the entire US Outer Continental Shelf. This puts on hold the 2024-2028 leasing schedule that the Interior Department adopted in April 2024 which provides for up to 12 offshore wind lease sales. It does not, however, affect other energy-related activity in the Outer Continental Shelf, such as oil and gas drilling and exploration.  

Key Insights 

• The Order puts on hold eight sales scheduled for 2025-2028 and effectively stops actively related to the lease sales conducted last fall in the Gulf of Maine. 

• With respect to existing leases (presumably including leases for projects which have received permitting approval and begun operation), the Order provides that “the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Attorney General as needed, shall conduct a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases, identifying any legal bases for such removal, and submit a report with recommendations to the President [.]” 

• This provides for the possibility of the cancellation of projects that have not yet received permitting but also potentially for the cancellation or modification of permits of existing projects that have completed permitting off New England, Maryland, and elsewhere – steps that would almost certainly provoke litigation. 

• If confirmed, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will be responsible for reviewing offshore wind policy, including whether to lift the moratorium and to seek to modify existing leases. As Governor of North Dakota, Burgum strongly supported onshore wind power, which now accounts for 36% of electricity generation there (and about 10% nationally). 

• While the President has opposed offshore wind development, the Order was reportedly drafted by Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), whose district lies near the offshore Atlantic Shores South project.