The Trump administration is pulling nearly $1 billion out of offshore wind projects off the East Coast and forcing that money into U.S. oil, natural gas, and LNG production, replacing planned wind development with active oil and gas production.
TotalEnergies paid about $133 million for a lease in the Carolina Long Bay area and roughly $795 million for another in the New York Bight in 2022, locking nearly a billion dollars into projects that are now being shut down. The company is only reimbursed if it first invests that same money in domestic energy production, including LNG infrastructure, upstream oil, and natural gas development in the United States.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said:
“Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally disruptive, and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on American ratepayers and taxpayers.”
TotalEnergies said it is exiting offshore wind development in the United States and will only be reimbursed after shifting that capital.
“We have decided to renounce offshore wind development in the United States, in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees.”
That capital is being redirected into LNG export capacity tied to the Rio Grande LNG project in Texas, along with expanded oil and gas production in the Gulf and shale regions, moving money out of planned offshore wind and into projects already positioned to produce.
“These investments will contribute to supplying Europe with much-needed LNG from the U.S. and provide gas for U.S. data center development.”
The shift follows months of federal pressure on offshore wind development, including permit challenges and stop-work efforts that slowed projects but left the leases in place, and it now goes further by terminating those leases and redirecting the capital behind them into oil, gas, and LNG production.
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The canceled lease areas were part of a broader East Coast offshore wind buildout, with at least one project expected to generate more than 1,300 megawatts that will no longer come from those sites. New York and New Jersey were already dealing with rising costs, financing problems, and delays tied to offshore wind development, and removing these projects strips away additional expected capacity while narrowing options for meeting long-term energy demand.
The replacement projects are tied to steady power demand from industry and data centers, sectors that require a consistent supply rather than intermittent generation.
“Americans will benefit from this significant investment in our energy industry, which will also enhance our national security and grid reliability,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said.
The reimbursement is conditional, requiring TotalEnergies to move the capital into U.S. energy production before it recovers the money it spent on offshore wind leases. The company is expected to begin deploying roughly $928 million into those projects starting in 2026, focused on LNG infrastructure and upstream oil and gas development inside the United States.
Editor’s Note: Donald Trump is unleashing the power of American energy — the very thing Biden tried to quash.
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