The Trump administration is rescinding more than 3.5 million acres of designated wind energy areas nationwide, effectively ending a yearslong effort to generate wind energy off the Southern Oregon Coast — for now.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, announced it is rescinding all designated Wind Energy Areas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. BOEM is the federal agency tasked with identifying, proposing and leasing the ocean areas.

Wind Energy Areas, or WEAs, are areas identified as suitable for offshore wind energy development.

“By rescinding WEAs, BOEM is ending the federal practice of designating large areas of the 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,” the agency announced in a statement.

That includes nearly 195,000 acres off the Southern Oregon coast.

The agency said the decision follows a Trump administration executive order as well as a memorandum signed on Jan. 20, both aimed at ending the production of offshore wind.

While on the campaign trail, Trump promised to end wind-energy projects “on day one” of his presidency and has since fulfilled that promise, halting several East Coast projects from moving ahead.

For Oregon, the near-term potential to generate wind energy off the Southern Oregon coast was over before Trump came into office despite a yearslong effort to designate two locations off the coast of Coos Bay and Brookings.

Oregon Coast floating offshore wind proposals faced many hurdles, including opposition from residents, fisherman and tribes. That ultimately prevented the area from attracting enough developers to make a bid.

In September, months after BOEM finalized which areas could host offshore wind generation, the agency canceled a planned auction of development rights, citing a lack of interest. At the time, the agency said only one of five bidders was still interested in floating offshore wind development.

It’s unclear if favorable winds will ever generate enough interest for the renewable technology to take off on the coast of Oregon.

But the decision to rescind the wind energy areas doesn’t mean the region may never develop floating offshore wind, Jeff Burright said. He is the offshore wind energy roadmap coordinator with the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.

“While the decision by BOEM to rescind the two Oregon Wind Energy Areas they identified last year takes the process for offshore wind development back a step, it does not preclude offshore wind indefinitely,” he wrote in an email.

If Oregon wants to meet its renewable energy goals and climate action policies, Burright said, the state needs to bring in new renewable energy sources like wind.

“Today’s action only means that BOEM would need to restart the siting process to identify areas of least conflict,” he said.

That could happen under a future administration.

In 2024, state lawmakers passed House Bill 4080, which directs the DLCD to develop the Oregon Offshore Wind Energy Roadmap. The roadmap is set to provide guidelines for future developments. It outlines a process that includes robust engagement with communities impacted by the development, extensive economic and environmental research, and workforce development.

“Roadmap development has been underway since last fall, informed by several layers of engagement, and DLCD will continue with the Roadmap process as the legislature directed,” Burright said.

Although Wednesday’s action by the Trump administration means there are no federally designated areas where offshore wind development would be allowed, the roadmap is set to be completed by mid-2026.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/07/30/oregon-wind-energy-wea-development-coos-bay-brookings/