The United States Department of the Interior has finalised a $765 million USD agreement with power project developer Invenergy to cancel four offshore wind leases located off the coasts of New York, California, and Maine.
The agreement marks the latest in a series of federal actions executed by the Trump administration this year aimed at halting the expansion of the domestic offshore wind sector, which the administration has classified as commercially inefficient and excessively costly. According to a statement issued by the Department of the Interior, Chicago-based Invenergy will reallocate the settlement funds to finance the development of natural gas generation facilities across five Midwestern states and geothermal energy infrastructure in the Western United States.
The four canceled leases—comprising two tracts in the Gulf of Maine, one off the coast of New York, and one off California—were all in the early phases of project development. A source familiar with the company indicated that while Invenergy is halting these specific coastal operations, it has not ruled out re-entering the offshore wind market at a future date should economic conditions shift.
The settlement stipulates that Invenergy will deploy a portion of the $765 million USD payout to construct or expand natural gas infrastructure in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri.
The transaction follows a similar federal intervention earlier this month involving an $800 million USD payment to French energy major TotalEnergies to cancel a separate offshore wind tract near New York. That previous transaction prompted a joint lawsuit from seven US states, which alleged that the administration bypassed statutory administrative processes and improperly utilised a federal fund restricted for legal settlements. Addressing potential procedural questions regarding the Invenergy deal, an Interior Department spokesperson confirmed the agreement had been reviewed by the Department of Justice and cleared all appropriate regulatory channels.
