Seven northeastern US states led by Democrats sued on Tuesday a financial agreement between TotalEnergies and the US government. The deal provides for reimbursement of nearly one billion dollars to the French group in exchange for abandoning offshore wind projects.
The agreement was signed at the end of March between a member of Donald Trump’s government and TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné. It stipulates that the state will pay nearly one billion dollars once TotalEnergies justifies equivalent investments in conventional energies in the United States between November 18, 2025, and the end of September 2026.
TotalEnergies had obtained two concessions in 2022 for offshore wind farms off New York and North Carolina for 928 million dollars. The projects were paused after Trump’s victory in late 2024.
The coalition of states considers the agreement “manifestly illegal” and is asking for its cancellation. New York Attorney General Letitia James denounced a “fake deal” aimed at paying hundreds of millions of dollars to a foreign company to abandon offshore wind.