The Trump administration on Monday said it will pay two more energy companies to abandon planned offshore wind projects in federal waters, including one off the coast of California.
The U.S. Department of the Interior said it has signed separate agreements totaling $885 million with Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind to voluntarily end their offshore wind leases, with both companies agreeing to instead invest in “reliable conventional energy projects.”
The move follows a similar $1 billion deal with the French firm TotalEnergies, which agreed in March to walk away from offshore wind leases off North Carolina and New York coasts.
Golden State Wind was one of five leaseholders off the coast of California with a wind lease located off of Morro Bay. Under the agreement, the company will be eligible to recover about $120 million in lease fees after an investment has been made of an equal amount in the development of U.S. oil and gas assets, energy infrastructure or liquefied natural gas projects along the Gulf Coast, the Interior Department said.
New Jersey-based Bluepoint Wind has committed to investing up to $765 million into a U.S. based liquefied natural gas facility, the amount of its original bid under the Biden administration. The government will reimburse the c
This is a developing story and will be updated.