The Trump administration will pay $765 million to energy developer Invenergy, returning somewhat less than the cost of its four wind leases to terminate them off the coasts of New York, California, and Maine. The company was not refunded for interest paid on offshore wind lease payments or for incremental development costs. Invenergy will instead use the funds to develop natural gas power plants in five Midwestern states and geothermal projects in the Western United States. The offshore wind leases included two in the Gulf of Maine and one each off the coasts of New York and California, all in the early stages of development. It is the third such deal the administration has announced this year as part of its effort to stop the development of offshore wind projects in the United States, which are expensive, inefficient, and a national security risk.
Invenergy will invest a portion of the $765 million in five new natural gas plants located in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. It is the nation’s largest privately held developer of energy projects, including solar, wind, and natural gas plants, as well as battery storage primarily used to provide backup power for wind and solar plants. The company had paid about $800 million for the four offshore leases in an auction held by the Biden administration. The largest lease in the New York Bight, between New Jersey and Long Island, was purchased at a 2022 auction and covers nearly 84,000 acres. The company had canceled it in November because of challenges with the supply chain, equipment, and vendors, as well as changing regulatory requirements.
According to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, offshore wind projects made more financial sense under the Biden administration, which offered lucrative tax credits for wind turbines, solar panels, electric cars, and other “green technologies.” Those incentives were eliminated or phased out in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in July of 2025.
According to Invenergy, it would “deploy additional capital into projects that can be delivered on a commercially reasonable timeline and meet customer demand while continuing to evaluate opportunities as market conditions evolve.” The deal is offering a way for the company to move forward with energy projects that could bring power to the grid more quickly for consumers.
Reuters reports that seven U.S. states sued the administration earlier this month over a nearly $800 million payment to France’s TotalEnergies to cancel an offshore wind lease off the coast of New York. The Democrat-controlled states alleged that the administration failed to follow proper administrative procedures and misused a government fund reserved for legal settlements, even though there was no litigation between the parties. The suing states include New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
The Trump administration has returned about $2.5 billion to date to encourage companies to terminate their offshore wind leases and instead invest the funds in developing energy projects that produce energy on demand. Trump administration officials indicate that similar agreements could be in the works with other companies.
Invenergy Portfolio
Invenergy has 14 operational natural gas facilities and is expanding into geothermal energy, with 45 leases totaling 144,000 acres in Nevada, Idaho, California, Utah, and New Mexico. It also has about 125 land-based wind facilities operating and under construction, more than 60 solar, and nearly 30 battery storage projects developed. It is planning to build more onshore wind, solar, and battery storage facilities.
The Trump administration canceled a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee last year for Invenergy’s Grain Belt Express project, a new high-voltage transmission line for delivering solar and wind-generated electricity from the Midwest to the eastern United States. The project is estimated to cost $11 billion—costs that are required for the development of wind and solar plants since they need to be located at often distant sites where wind and sun resources are strong, but which are often not included when comparing them to fossil fuel projects that can be located near demand centers. The company intends to move forward with the project even without the federal loan guarantee.
The Other Lease Buy Backs
Under a deal announced in March, French company TotalEnergies is receiving nearly $1 billion, refunding its two offshore wind leases if it invests the funds in fossil fuels instead. The leases were off the coasts of North Carolina and New York.
In April, Golden State Wind and Bluepoint Wind agreed to end their leases in exchange for reimbursements totaling nearly $900 million, which they would invest in fossil fuels. California is investigating the deal that ended Golden State Wind, a floating offshore wind farm proposed off the state’s central coast. Bluepoint Wind was an offshore wind farm in the early stages of development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York. Both Golden State and Bluepoint are co-owned by Ocean Winds, a joint venture of EDP Renewables and French energy giant Engie.
Conclusion
The Trump administration has undertaken its third deal to buy back offshore wind leases sold during the Biden administration, when lucrative subsidies were available to developers. The administration will return $765 million to energy developer Invenergy, somewhat less than the cost of its four wind leases, to terminate them off the coasts of New York, California, and Maine. Invenergy will instead use the funds to develop natural gas power plants in five Midwestern states and geothermal projects in the Western United States. While the states affected by the canceled offshore wind facilities are unhappy, the deal is good for U.S. consumers because offshore wind is expensive, inefficient, and a national security risk. Avoiding the subsidy obligations of the leases, which are scheduled to phase out under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, will also save taxpayers large sums. Invenergy had already canceled one of the projects in November because of challenges with the supply chain, equipment, and vendors, as well as changing regulatory requirements. The Trump administration has returned about $2.5 billion to date to companies to terminate their offshore wind leases, and officials indicate that similar agreements could be in the works with other companies.
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