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Interior agreed to pay Invenergy $765 million from the Treasury Judgment Fund to cancel four offshore wind leases

On June 17, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced an agreement to pay Invenergy $765 million to terminate four offshore wind leases held by its affiliates: the 2-gigawatt Morro Bay project off central California, plus leases in the New York Bight and Gulf of Maine. Interior framed the buyout as a settlement payable from the Treasury Judgment Fund, and Invenergy agreed to redirect the payout toward natural gas plants in five states and geothermal projects. The deal brought the administration's total offshore wind lease buyouts to eight, costing more than $2.5 billion.

Part of: Trump Administration Offshore Wind Lease Buyouts

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On June 17, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced an agreement to pay Invenergy $765 million to terminate four offshore wind leases held by the company's affiliates. The leases covered the 2-gigawatt Morro Bay project off central California and additional areas in the New York Bight and the Gulf of Maine. As part of the deal, Invenergy agreed to redirect the payout toward natural-gas-fired power plants in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri, along with geothermal projects in the Western United States.

Interior characterized the buyouts as "settlement agreements" payable from the U.S. Treasury's Judgment Fund, a permanent appropriation Congress established to pay court judgments and settlements arising from actual litigation. No lawsuit had been filed over the four leases when the agreement was reached. The transaction brought the administration's total offshore wind lease buyouts to eight, at a combined cost exceeding $2.5 billion. Critics, including the California Attorney General, contend that tapping the Judgment Fund to settle disputes that produced no litigation circumvents the appropriations process and the statutory limits on how the fund may be used.

The agreement is one in a series of offshore wind lease terminations, following a $129 million buyout of a Duke Energy lease in the Carolina Long Bay, and paralleling a separate Golden State Wind lease termination near Morro Bay.

Updates

2026-06-23 — California announced intent to sue and subpoenaed Invenergy over the deal [2]

The California Attorney General sent a notice of intent to file suit challenging the buyout as unlawful under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and the California Energy Commission issued an investigative subpoena to Invenergy demanding the unpublished settlement agreement.

Why we recorded this

Congress controls federal spending, and the Treasury's Judgment Fund exists to pay court judgments and settlements of actual litigation, not to fund executive policy reversals. The Interior Department agreed to pay Invenergy $765 million from that fund to cancel four validly issued offshore wind leases where no lawsuit had been filed, redirecting the money toward natural gas and geothermal projects. Using a narrow statutory fund to unwind congressionally authorized leasing outside the appropriations process erodes the separation of powers and the legal limits that govern how public money may be spent.

Sources

  1. Trump administration buys out 4 more offshore wind leases for $765M — Utility Dive primary accessed July 3, 2026
  2. California Sends Notice of Intent to File Suit Challenging Trump Administration's Unlawful Offshore Wind Deal — California Attorney General primary accessed July 3, 2026
  3. NWF Statement on Offshore Wind Lease Buy-Backs — National Wildlife Federation secondary accessed July 3, 2026

See also