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Bloomberg
The Trump administration is canceling four offshore wind leases held by power developer Invenergy LLC that total $765 million, the latest move by the White House to block new offshore wind development.
Under a settlement with the Interior Department, Invenergy will redirect that investment to natural gas as well as geothermal projects in the western US, the agency said Wednesday.
The settlement is part of a broader White House strategy that’s resulted in the erasure of billions of dollars in offshore wind leases. In some of these arrangements, energy developers committed to support fossil fuels — and promised not to pursue further wind projects in the US.
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, his administration has focused on blocking existing offshore-wind projects and thwarting other renewable developments. This campaign has continued despite another big administration priority: to expedite new electric plants to help meet surging demand from power-hungry data centers and new factories.
“The offshore wind leases were sold under the assumptions that taxpayers would indefinitely subsidize costly, unreliable projects and that no national security concerns were implicated,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.
The Invenergy leases being canceled include one that covers nearly 84,000 acres in the so-called New York Bight, according to the agency. It was purchased in 2022 for $645 million during a Biden administration auction in which companies snapped up rights to develop wind projects off the coasts of New York and New Jersey. Investors in the planned project included Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, CDPQ, FirstLight Power, and Ullico Infrastructure Fund LP, Invenergy said at the time.
Leases held by Invenergy off the Gulf of Maine and the central coast of California also were canceled in the deal with the Trump administration, the Interior Department said.
“At a time of unprecedented energy demand, Invenergy is focused on delivering reliable, affordable energy,” said Daniel Runyan, the company’s senior vice president for development, in a blog post Wednesday.
Before Wednesday, the Trump administration had already released TotalEnergies SE and its partners from roughly $1 billion in offshore wind leases, and announced two similar agreements in April worth nearly $900 million combined.
The strategy to buy back leases wasn’t introduced by the Trump administration. It’s been used before, including by former President Barack Obama who ordered a withdrawal of Utah shale oil leases sold by former President George W. Bush in 2008.
— With assistance from Jennifer A Dlouhy and Mark Chediak
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