The Trump administration will pay Invenergy $765 million on Wednesday to voluntarily terminate four U.S. wind leases, including one off Morro Bay. The wind farm deal ends leases in California, the New York Bight and two off the Gulf of Maine, and leaves only three offshore wind leases intact off California.
Doug Burgum on Trump energy policy
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said, "President Trump is committed to unleashing affordable, reliable American energy for our country’s communities and putting the American people first through common-sense action". He also said, "Under President Trump, companies are shifting investment back toward dependable, secure energy infrastructure that can power our economy and lower utility costs."
Invenergy lease cancellations
Invenergy will redirect the money toward natural-gas-fired power plants in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, along with geothermal power generation projects in the western U.S. The $765 million payment is a partial reimbursement for what the companies paid for the leases, which were awarded under the Biden administration.
California offshore wind leases
The California lease area known as Even Keel Wind covered about 80,000 acres roughly 20 miles off the coast. California still has a target of 25 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2045, but the federal action removes one more project from the state's offshore wind pipeline. The Trump administration made similar deals in March and April, including a $1 billion agreement with TotalEnergies and an $885 million deal with Golden State Wind and Bluepoint Wind.
