Green Energy — News & Analysis

Trump administration pays $765 million to cancel four more offshore wind projects (June 17, 2026)

June 17, 2026 — The Interior Department announced it will pay energy developer Invenergy $765 million to voluntarily surrender four offshore wind leases — sites planned for the New York Bight, off the central coast of California, and in the Gulf of Maine. All four projects were in early development stages, with little chance of advancing under an administration that has halted federal permitting for offshore wind entirely. The payment represents a partial reimbursement of the roughly $800 million Invenergy originally paid for the leases under the Biden administration.

In exchange, Invenergy says it will redirect the funds toward at least five new natural gas-fired power plants in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri, along with geothermal projects in the western United States. This is the third such deal the Interior Department has struck since March, following a $1 billion settlement with French energy firm TotalEnergies and an $885 million deal with Golden State Wind and Bluepoint Wind. The government has now spent roughly $2.5 billion in taxpayer funds paying companies to walk away from offshore wind leases they purchased legally at federal auction.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the move by pointing to Congress's elimination of green-energy tax credits last year, arguing the leases had been "sold under the assumptions that taxpayers would indefinitely subsidize costly, unreliable projects." He also repeated claims that offshore wind poses national security risks — claims the agency has never detailed publicly, and which federal judges have already rejected as unconvincing in separate litigation over a 2025 construction halt. Seven Democratic-controlled states, including New York, are currently suing the administration over the earlier TotalEnergies deal, arguing the buyout scheme itself is illegal.

Critics note the deals do nothing to address the underlying electricity needs the canceled projects were meant to serve. Hillary Bright, executive director of the offshore wind advocacy group Turn Forward, said replacing coastal wind capacity with Midwest gas plants or western geothermal "does nothing to address rising ratepayer affordability concerns, reliability challenges, or potential gaps in power supply in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic." The Justice Department has signaled it expects further such agreements, with associate attorney general Stanley Woodward saying the department "looks forward to continued cooperation from companies that are re-evaluating their energy investments."