The Trump administration is spending nearly $1 billion on two offshore wind farms along the East Coast in order to prevent them from being built, marking the latest creative step officials have taken to stop any wind projects from being completed under President Donald Trump.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the deal on Monday, saying the administration would be paying French energy company TotalEnergies $928 million to fully cancel the two projects’ federal water leases.
“This agreement is yet another win for President Trump’s commitment to affordable and reliable energy for all Americans,” Burgum said. “Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally disruptive, and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on American ratepayers and taxpayers. We welcome TotalEnergies’ commitment to developing projects that produce dependable, affordable power to lower Americans’ monthly bills while providing secure U.S. baseload power today—and in the future.”
The announcement came at the start of CERAWeek By S&P Global, an annual conference in Houston, Texas, often referred to as the “super bowl of Energy.”
As part of the deal, TotalEnergies will be required to abandon the projects and commit to natural gas investments in Texas.
Specifically, the company will be investing in the development of Train 1 to 4 of the Rio Grande liquefied natural gas plant, as well as shale gas production and the development of upstream conventional oil in the Gulf of Mexico, which has been renamed the Gulf of America.
TotalEnergies has also pledged not to develop any new offshore wind projects in the U.S.
The two projects in question are currently located off the coasts of New York and North Carolina, and neither are under active construction.
The farm off New York, Attentive Energy, would be located roughly 54 miles south of Long Island. It is expected to produce enough energy to power more than one million homes and businesses by the early 2030s.
However, TotalEnergies executives put the project on pause after Trump won the 2024 election.
Carolina Long Bay is the project located 22 miles south of Bald Head Island, North Carolina, with a projected capacity of enough electricity for 300,000 homes.
The nearly $1 billion being paid to the French energy major will reimburse TotalEnergies for its winning bids in the lease sales submitted under former President Joe Biden.
The deal marks a major win for Trump, who has repeatedly said he aims to prevent any wind farms from being built in the U.S. during his second presidency.
Trump and his cabinet have launched a government-wide policy assault on new and existing offshore wind projects over the last year.
This has included imposing new regulatory hurdles for future windfarms, canceling more than $679 million in funding for offshore wind-related projects, and attempting to rescind permits or leases for under-construction projects.
Multiple offshore wind projects have prevailed amid the administration’s pressure, with at least one – Vineyard Wind off of Massachusetts – completing construction earlier this month.
Another located off the coast of Rhode Island, Revolution Wind, also announced this month that its turbines had begun delivering power. The project, which is expected to complete construction later this year, will ultimately produce more than 700 megawatts of electricity.
Both wind farms were among five under-construction projects that the administration attempted to block last December, alleging national security risks.
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Federal judges swiftly ruled in favor of the projects at the beginning of the year, allowing all five to resume construction.
Monday’s announcement signals that the administration is still attempting to get around the court rulings, and lean on non-traditional ways to block future development of the renewable energy source.
