Trump administration to pay almost $1B to abandon plans to build wind farms – UK Times

The Trump administration will pay almost $1 billion for a French energy company to abandon plans to build wind farms off the East Coast.

The Interior Department announced Monday the U.S. would reimburse TotalEnergies for the amount it paid in leases for offshore wind projects during the Biden administration.

The company invested $928 million in leases for two projects, one about 50 miles south of Jones Beach, New York and one roughly 20 miles south of Bald Head Island, North Carolina.

In exchange for the reimbursement, TotalEnergies has committed to investing the same amount in oil and natural gas production in the U.S.

One project will work on the development of the Rio Grande LNG plant in Texas, which will export liquefied natural gas abroad. The other project will help produce more oil in the Gulf of Mexico, which the Trump administration calls the Gulf of America, and also increase shale gas production.

“Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally disruptive, and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on American ratepayers and taxpayers,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.

The Independent has reached out to the Interior Department for comment.

President Donald Trump has made his hatred of wind farms known since at least 2012, when he appeared before the Scottish Parliament to oppose nearly a dozen wind turbines. The wind turbines were ultimately built near his Aberdeenshire golf course.

Last December, the Trump administration tried to pause leases for five wind farms under construction off the East Coast.

Federal judges ruled against the administration when developers and several states sued over the halted projects, according to The New York Times.

“Considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the country’s interest, we have decided to renounce offshore wind development in the United States, in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees,” TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said in a statement.

While wind projects may not be in the Trump administration’s interest, there are several Democrats who spoke out against the switch-up.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement shared by the NYT, “Using a pay-not-to-play scheme to pressure a company to not build offshore wind is an outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars.”

“I remain committed to moving forward with my all-of-the-above approach that includes renewables, nuclear and other energy sources needed to keep the lights on and costs down,” she added.

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein called the deal between the Trump administration and TotalEnergies “ludicrous.”

“Our state has the offshore wind potential to power millions of homes with renewable American-made energy,” he said in a statement shared by the NYT. “It’s ludicrous and wasteful that the Trump Administration is spending $1 billion in taxpayer money to pay off a company to stop it from investing private dollars to create the clean energy we need.”