Interior paid RWE $1.22 billion to terminate its New York, California, and Louisiana offshore wind leases

On August 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced a $1.22 billion settlement with RWE U.S. Offshore under which the German energy company voluntarily relinquished its offshore wind leases in the New York Bight and off the coasts of California and Louisiana. RWE said in its own announcement that "there is no path forward to permit these projects in the U.S. for the foreseeable future" and that the settlement resolves its legal claims against the government. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the department "welcome[d] RWE's agreement and voluntary investment in projects that strengthen our nation's energy security." As part of the deal, RWE will direct $900 million toward a 16% stake in a Louisiana liquefied natural gas terminal and $300 million into a turbine-reservation agreement supporting a pipeline of natural gas peaker plants.

The RWE settlement is the fifth offshore wind lease buyout the Trump administration has brokered, following earlier deals with TotalEnergies, Golden State Wind, Invenergy, and Duke Energy. Across the five agreements, the federal government has committed nearly $4 billion in taxpayer funds to cancel leases issued under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and expanded through the Inflation Reduction Act's renewable-energy provisions. Congress has not authorized a wind-lease buyout program; each settlement instead uses Interior's discretionary authority to negotiate individual lease cancellations, implementing what amounts to an offshore wind moratorium without legislative action.

Updates

2026-08-27 — Washington Post investigation ties $900M LNG stake purchase to Trump donor's firm [3]

The Washington Post reported that Stonepeak, the private-equity firm that sold RWE its $900 million stake in a Louisiana LNG project as part of the settlement, is led by Michael Dorrell, who donated roughly $1 million to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee and has described his proximity to Trump's circle. Interior said no one at the department directed which company RWE invested in; RWE and Woodside Energy, the LNG project's majority owner, said the transaction did not change the project's ownership structure. Rep. Jared Huffman said he would expand his existing congressional inquiry into the lease-buyout settlements to cover the donor tie.