Posted on August 1, 2025
The Trump Administration is rescinding more than 3.5 million acres (1.4 million hectares) of Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) designated for offshore wind development on the US Outer Continental Shelf in yet another blow for the offshore wind industry.
The decision was announced on Wednesday by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Department of Interior (DOI) agency tasked with identifying, proposing and leasing seabed acreage.
The move follows an order to end preferential treatment for “unreliable, foreign controlled energy sources” such as wind projects, which calls for the discontinuation of support for energy supply chains controlled by foreign rivals. It also doubles down on a Presidential Memorandum from January to freeze federal approvals for all offshore wind energy projects pending federal review.
The news comes a few days after President Trump once again railed against the offshore wind industry. During a press conference at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last weekend, he said: “We will not allow a windmill to be built in the United States. They’re killing us. They’re killing the beauty of our scenery.”
The BOEM explained that by cancelling wind energy areas, it is ending the federal practice of designating large areas of the Outer Continental Shelf for “speculative wind development.” The de-designated WEAs, originally established to identify offshore locations deemed most suitable for wind energy development, are located across the Gulf of America, the Gulf of Maine, the New York Bight, California, Oregon, and the Central Atlantic.
