US weighs near US$1bil settlement with TotalEnergies for abandoning wind farms

2026-03-17 - 11:31

Offshore wind developers have faced repeated disruptions under US President Donald Trump, who finds wind turbines ugly, expensive and inefficient. (Reuters pic) BARCELONA: US officials are drafting agreements to pay French oil major TotalEnergies about US$1 billion in settlements due to the cancellation of leases for its wind farms in federal waters off New York State and North Carolina, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. Under the terms of the proposed settlements, the US Interior Department will cancel the leases in federal waters for two projects, known as Attentive Energy and Carolina Long Bay, the NYT said, citing documents. The Justice Department will then pay more than US$928 million to TotalEnergies, compensating the firm for its winning bids in lease sales under the previous Biden administration, according to the NYT report. The White House, the US Department of Justice, the US Department of Interior and TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The French energy group had formed a joint venture in October 2023 for the development of the Attentive Energy offshore wind project off the coast of New York. In November 2024, it said it had paused the development of the wind farm after Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory. The company won a lease for the Carolina Long Bay project in 2022. Following the settlement, TotalEnergies will abandon its plans to begin building the wind farms. It would also commit to investing in natural gas infrastructure in Texas, the report said. Offshore wind developers have faced repeated disruptions under US President Donald Trump, who has said he finds wind turbines ugly, expensive and inefficient.