Wind turbines off the coast of Massachusetts.Image: keystone
Mar 23, 2026, 3:47 p.mMar 23, 2026, 3:47 p.m
As the New York Times reportsthe Trump administration is considering paying French energy company TotalEnergies nearly $1 billion to avoid building two offshore wind farms off the U.S. East Coast.
According to the report, the proposed deal would require the Interior Ministry to revoke permits for the offshore wind farms. The Justice Department would reimburse TotalEnergies for the costs of the bids it won during the Biden administration. In return, TotalEnergies should abandon its plans for wind farms and instead invest in natural gas projects in Texas.
“Because Trump doesn’t like offshore wind”
The New York Times quotes John Leshy, former general counsel of the Interior Department under President Clinton: “It is quite unusual for the government to make such payments, apparently just because the president doesn’t like offshore wind.”
The Trump administration has tried several times in recent years to stop wind farms, but encountered legal hurdles. Attempts to block offshore wind projects already under construction failed five times. As the New York Times reports, this would be the first time the government has tried to stop wind projects before construction has even begun by revoking the leases outright.
No electricity for around 1.3 million households
Attentive Energy is located approximately 87 kilometers south of Jones Beach, New York, and Carolina Long Bay is approximately 35 kilometers south of Bald Head Island, North Carolina. According to the New York Times, Attentive Energy would provide electricity for over a million households when completed, and Carolina Long Bay would provide electricity for around 300,000 households.
The planned payments include $795 million for Attentive Energy and more than $133 million for Carolina Long Bay. The documents also show that TotalEnergies would need to invest in gas-fired power plants in Texas to bolster the nation’s energy supply, a move the Trump administration says is intended to address the “national energy crisis.”
It is currently unclear whether TotalEnergies will accept the offer. The New York Times emphasizes that the government could terminate the leases without the company’s consent, but this would lead to costly legal proceedings that are unlikely to be attractive to either party. (ear)
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