US shelves Oregon offshore wind auction after protest from governor

By Nichola Groom

(Reuters) -The Biden administration on Friday canceled a planned auction of offshore wind development rights off the coast of Oregon after the state's governor said she did not support the sale.

The announcement was a setback to U.S. President Joe Biden's vision to deploy turbines along every U.S. coastline as part of his efforts to fight climate change. It marked the second time this year that the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has shelved an offshore wind lease sale as the nascent industry struggles with high costs and supply chain challenges. The agency called off an auction in the Gulf of Mexico in July.

BOEM, a division of the Interior Department, in a press release cited a lack of interest from the offshore wind industry in the Oregon sale, which had been scheduled for Oct. 15. Though five companies had qualified to participate in the sale, just one expressed interest in bidding on the lease areas, BOEM said.

Earlier on Friday, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek sent a letter to BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein seeking a halt to offshore wind leasing off the Oregon coast. Two weeks earlier, a group of Oregon tribes sued BOEM in federal court to block the sale.

Kotek cited broad concerns from labor, fishing, conservation and renewable energy groups and said the state needed more time to complete an offshore wind "roadmap" process required by a state law passed earlier this year.

"I remain convinced that offshore wind holds exciting promise to be part of our nation’s clean energy future, but in Oregon, actions of significance must be done the Oregon way," Kotek said in the letter.

Also in the letter, Kotek said Oregon would withdraw from a federal, state and tribal task force set up to coordinate offshore wind planning in the state.

BOEM would not comment on Kotek's letter.

Offshore wind opposition has grown more sophisticated in the United States and beyond, with several active groups in Oregon.

In its statement, BOEM said it had announced the Oregon sale after engagement with the Oregon Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force.

"BOEM will continue to collaborate with representatives from federal, state and local agencies and Tribal governments, to coordinate on potential leasing and support ongoing stakeholder engagement processes on broader offshore wind considerations, such as the state-led development of a strategic roadmap for offshore wind," the agency said.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Aurora Ellis and Richard Chang)