The U.S. Department of the Interior announced on Monday that it will refund nearly $1 billion to TotalEnergies for two unused offshore wind leases in the Atlantic Ocean. In exchange, the French company pledged to invest the funds in existing oil and gas projects in the Gulf of Mexico and Texas. Critics called the deal opaque and unnecessary.
On Monday, President Trump's Department of the Interior revealed plans to return almost $1 billion to TotalEnergies, a French oil multinational. The company had paid that sum during the Biden administration for leases to develop offshore wind farms off the New York-New Jersey Bight in the Atlantic Ocean. TotalEnergies was not actively building on these leases, and the Trump administration, which has halted new offshore wind auctions and opposed such projects, is compensating the firm to relinquish them. The refund equals the lease value and will support TotalEnergies' ongoing investments in Gulf of Mexico oil platforms and a Texas liquefied natural gas facility, decisions the company had already finalized. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné stated, “we believe this is a more efficient use of capital.” Elizabeth Klein, former head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management under Biden, criticized the arrangement as “a backdoor deal done with zero transparency, no public process, and no consideration of the impacts to ratepayers in states that had been planning on that offshore wind to meet their energy needs.” Hannes Pfeifenberger of the Brattle Group suggested the move avoids potential lawsuits, as TotalEnergies paid a premium—around four times the typical rate—for the leases. He noted, “[Trump’s Interior Department] might have been responsible for damages if the offshore wind developers sued the government for selling them leases and then basically making permitting impossible.” Experts like Klein emphasized that the deal does not permanently derail offshore wind, as future administrations could re-lease the areas. Senate talks on permitting reform continue unaffected, with Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse saying progress is steady and the administration has not appealed court blocks on other wind projects.
