Interior Dept. Pays $1B to TotalEnergies to Halt Wind
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Interior Department allocated $1 billion of taxpayer money to pay TotalEnergies to stop offshore wind projects in Carolina Long Bay and New York Bight.
- Interior Department sent a draft memorandum of understanding to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Nov 13 2025, before any national‑security justification appears in the email record.
- Department of Defense only raised national‑security concerns for offshore wind projects in late November/December 2025, after the $1 billion deal had already been negotiated.
- TotalEnergies issued a press release after the payout claiming wind power was not in the U.S. national interest, despite operating wind farms in France.
Why it matters: Taxpayers lose $1 billion while TotalEnergies pockets the payout, and the Carolina Long Bay and New York Bight wind farms are shelved, weakening U.S. clean‑energy growth and exposing the Interior Department’s credibility.
Ask SkimNews
