The Trump administration is paying nearly $1 billion to get a French energy company to cancel two planned offshore wind projects.
The Interior Department said TotalEnergies will invest the same amount of money it is receiving from Interior into oil production and liquefied natural gas facilities in Texas.
The wind projects, which were not yet under construction, were slated to be developed off the coasts of New York and North Carolina.
The deal with TotalEnergies is a clear win for President Donald Trump in his war against offshore wind development. It comes after a series of failed attempts to halt existing offshore wind projects.
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Interior recently lost five successive lawsuits after it tried to stop construction on projects already under development. Some of those projects have since finished construction and are now delivering power to the electric grid.
But the administration has succeeded in preventing interest in any further or future offshore wind projects. Interior is not offering new lease sales for offshore wind, and Congress rescinded federal tax credits for these projects in its July 2025 reconciliation bill.
“Considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the country’s interest, we have decided to renounce offshore wind development in the United States, in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees,” said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman of the board of directors and CEO of TotalEnergies, in a press release.
He called the investments in oil and gas production in Texas a “more efficient use of capital in the United States.”
As part of the deal, TotalEnergies is voluntarily renouncing its rights to the two leases it purchased for future offshore wind development.
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