The Trump administration is set to pay an energy firm $129 million to abandon plans to build an offshore wind farm off North Carolina.
The deal struck with Duke Energy is the latest move by the White House encouraging firms to scrap such schemes, given the president’s disdain for wind energy.
Under the plans, Duke Energy is set to surrender its lease in federal waters for a wind farm that was planned in the Carolina Long Bay area, the Department of the Interior confirmed in a press release.
The Interior Department stated the project had been in a “very early stage.” Duke Energy originally leased the area for $155 million in 2022, according to The Coastal Review.
“Under the agreement, Duke Energy will reinvest nearly $129 million in additional generating capacity, which may include advancing nuclear and natural gas generation, and grid enhancements to strengthen reliability, support continued growth in the Carolinas and keep costs as low as possible,” Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Duke Energy Carolinas, said in the release.
“President Trump’s vision of unleashing affordable, reliable American energy for our country’s communities and using common sense to put the American people first is being implemented,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum added.
However, Karly Brownfield, senior program manager at Southeastern Wind Coalition, told WUNC that the termination of the lease is a step back for offshore wind projects in North Carolina.
“It’s unfortunate to see the federal government continue to pick winners and losers in the energy space,” she said.
According to Southeastern Wind Coalition data obtained by the outlet, the lease could have supported a wind farm capable of powering around 300,000 homes.
The nonprofit also estimates that the project would have created 37,000 jobs, $232 million in taxes and an overall $44 billion capital investment in the state.
Trump has often criticized wind farms, dubbing them “the most expensive form of energy.”
The president hit out at the British government earlier this year, claiming that wind turbines “put you out of business” and urging the now-outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer to “open up the North Sea oil.”
In March, the Trump administration announced a deal with French firm TotalEnergies to abandon plans for two wind farms, one off New York and another off North Carolina, in exchange for nearly $1 billion.
Seven states have sued the administration over the deal, claiming that it would harm their climate goals, economies and energy grids.
Earlier in June, the Department of the Interior confirmed to Reuters that the Trump administration would pay $765 million to Invenergy to terminate four wind leases off the coasts of New York, California and Maine.
The energy company is set to use those funds to develop natural gas power plants in five Midwestern states and geothermal projects in the Western United States, according to the Interior Department.
