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Trump Administration Offshore Wind Lease Buyouts
The Interior Department has paid offshore wind developers hundreds of millions of dollars each to voluntarily surrender valid federal leases, committing billions in taxpayer funds across multiple deals to remove permitted wind capacity. The pattern amounts to an offshore wind moratorium implemented through individual settlements rather than legislation.
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.
2026 Events (4)
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 German energy company RWE under which RWE voluntarily relinquished its offshore wind leases in the New York Bight and off the coasts of California and Louisiana. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum welcomed the deal, and RWE said it would redirect $900 million into a stake in a Louisiana LNG terminal and $300 million into natural gas turbine reservations. The settlement is the fifth Trump administration lease-termination deal with an offshore wind developer, bringing total federal buyout payments to nearly $4 billion.
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.
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.
Interior terminated Golden State Wind's $120M Morro Bay offshore lease via settlement of never-filed litigation
On April 27, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced it would terminate Golden State Wind's $120 million offshore wind lease in California's Morro Bay Wind Energy Area through an agreement framed as settling litigation the company never brought. The deal redirected $120 million in federal funds to pay the developer to abandon the lease and required an equal investment in out-of-state fossil-fuel projects. California's attorney general and energy commission say the arrangement violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.