March 23, 2026 · Economy, Trade & Fiscal Policy
· Official action
Confirmed
Interior Pays TotalEnergies $1 Billion to Walk Away From Two U.S. Offshore Wind Leases
On March 23, 2026, the Interior Department announced it would pay the French energy company TotalEnergies about $1 billion to relinquish two offshore wind leases, refunding what the company had paid for them: roughly $133 million for the Carolina Long Bay lease and $795 million for a New York-New Jersey lease, both bought in 2022. The Carolina Long Bay project was designed for more than one gigawatt and the New York-New Jersey site for up to three gigawatts, together enough for well over a million homes. Interior framed the buyout as ending ideological subsidies for renewable energy. TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said the refunded fees would go toward a liquefied natural gas plant in Texas and expanded oil and gas operations, calling it a more efficient use of capital.
The transaction runs in the opposite direction from ordinary federal leasing: the government is returning money to a private company in exchange for the cancellation of energy production on public waters.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called it a pay-not-to-play scheme and an abuse of taxpayer dollars; environmental groups described it as a billion-dollar payment to stop clean energy development.
The transaction runs in the opposite direction from ordinary federal leasing: the government is returning money to a private company in exchange for the cancellation of energy production on public waters.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called it a pay-not-to-play scheme and an abuse of taxpayer dollars; environmental groups described it as a billion-dollar payment to stop clean energy development.