On March 17, American authorities are drafting agreements to pay nearly a billion dollars to the major oil company TotalEnergies in compensation for the cancellation of leases for wind farms in federal waters off the states of New York and North Carolina, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
According to the proposed agreements, the US Department of the Interior will cancel leases in federal waters for two projects, known as Attentive Energy and Carolina Long Bay, the NYT reported, citing documents.
The Justice Department will then pay over $928 million to TotalEnergies, compensating for its winning bids during lease sales under the previous Biden administration, according to the NYT report. The White House, Justice Department, and Department of the Interior did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comments. TotalEnergies declined to comment on the report.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. It is uncertain whether TotalEnergies will accept the proposed settlements, the NYT reported, adding that the Trump administration would cancel the leases even if the company rejects the settlements, according to cited documents.
The French energy group formed a joint venture in October 2023 for the development of the offshore wind project Attentive Energy off New York. In November 2024, they announced pausing the wind farm development after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
The company obtained a lease for the Carolina Long Bay project in 2022.
Following an agreement, TotalEnergies would abandon its wind farm construction projects. They would also commit to investing in natural gas infrastructure in Texas, according to the report. Offshore wind farm developers faced disruptions under Trump, who deemed wind turbines ugly, expensive, and inefficient.
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