Updated
Updated · Gothamist · Jun 2
New York, 6 States Sue Over $795 Million Wind Lease Cancellation Deal
Updated
Updated · Gothamist · Jun 2

New York, 6 States Sue Over $795 Million Wind Lease Cancellation Deal

3 articles · Updated · Gothamist · Jun 2

Summary

  • $795 million is at the center of a new lawsuit by New York and six other Northeast states seeking to void the Interior Department’s March deal with TotalEnergies and restore the canceled offshore wind lease.
  • The states say the administration unlawfully reimbursed TotalEnergies in full for surrendering the lease after the company agreed to invest about $1 billion in U.S. oil and gas and forgo other offshore wind projects.
  • Attentive Energy bought the lease in 2022 for an area about 50 miles off New York and New Jersey; regulators said the project could power roughly 700,000 New York homes and create more than 1,700 jobs.
  • The case extends a broader clash over Trump’s anti-wind agenda after a judge struck down his nationwide approvals halt in December and another court blocked efforts to stop two New York offshore wind projects.

Insights

Could this $928 million deal set a new precedent for federal buyouts of private energy projects?
What are the long-term economic impacts of trading offshore wind development for fossil fuel production?