Offshore Wind Lease Buyouts
Beginning in 2026 the Trump administration's Department of the Interior brokered a series of settlements paying offshore wind developers to voluntarily terminate valid federal leases issued under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and expanded through the Inflation Reduction Act. Recorded deals include Golden State Wind's $120 million Morro Bay lease termination (April 27, 2026), Invenergy's $765 million cancellation of four leases drawn from the Treasury Judgment Fund (June 17, 2026), and Duke Energy's $129 million surrender of its Carolina Long Bay lease off North Carolina (June 29, 2026); an earlier roughly $1 billion buyout of TotalEnergies preceded them. Across the deals the federal government has committed more than $2.75 billion in taxpayer funds to remove permitted offshore wind capacity, implementing a de facto offshore wind moratorium through individual lease-cancellation agreements rather than legislation. This is a running episode that should accrue new buyout entries as they arrive.
Documented in this episode (1)
Interior paid Duke Energy $129 million to terminate its Carolina Long Bay offshore wind lease
On June 29, 2026, the Department of the Interior announced a settlement agreement with Duke Energy under which Duke voluntarily terminated its offshore wind lease in the Carolina Long Bay area — 22 miles off southeastern North Carolina — in exchange for $129 million in federal compensation. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the deal advances President Trump's energy agenda, and Duke Energy said it would redirect the funds toward nuclear and natural gas generation. The agreement is the fourth offshore wind lease termination brokered by the Trump administration, bringing total federal wind lease buyout payments to more than $2.75 billion.