The White House is reportedly preparing to pay nearly $1bn to French energy firm TotalEnergies to abandon major offshore wind projects, moving from legal challenges to direct financial settlements. According to documents reviewed by The New York Times, the proposed settlements would see the Justice Department pay more than $928m to terminate the Attentive Energy project off New York and the Carolina Long Bay project in North Carolina.
In exchange for the payout, which serves as a reimbursement for lease bids won during the Biden era, TotalEnergies would scrap its wind plans and commit to 'accelerated investments' in natural gas infrastructure in Texas. The move follows a string of courtroom defeats for the administration, after federal judges blocked five previous attempts to halt wind farms under construction along the East Coast.
John Leshy, a former general counsel for the Interior Department, told The New York Times: 'It is quite unusual for the administration to do this cash outlay, seemingly just because Trump doesn’t like offshore wind.' The administration has cited a classified national security report to justify halting projects, but judges ruled the government failed to prove an imminent security risk.
Despite the legal setbacks, two projects the administration tried to kill reached major milestones this week. Vineyard Wind, south of Martha’s Vineyard, completed construction on all 62 turbines, while Revolution Wind began delivering power to the New England grid. Proponents point to economic benefits, with Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell saying such projects are essential for lowering costs and sustaining thousands of jobs.
If TotalEnergies accepts, $795m earmarked for Attentive Energy would cancel a project expected to power over one million homes, and $133m would end Carolina Long Bay. It remains unclear if the company will sign, but internal documents show the administration intends to cancel the leases regardless.
