Bizarre new deal sees US government pay a French company nearly $1 billion to ditch clean energy, and it’s from taxpayer funds

The Trump administration just announced a pretty wild deal, shelling out nearly $1 billion of taxpayer money to French energy giant TotalEnergies, as reported by CNN. This is reportedly to pay the company to ditch its plans to build offshore wind farms in the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, the administration wants TotalEnergies to focus on fossil fuel projects right here in the US.

This move marks a significant shift in strategy for the current administration, which has consistently thrown up roadblocks for offshore wind development. President Trump has personally expressed his dislike for this type of energy for years. After trying and failing to block more mature projects, it looks like the federal government is now paying companies to stop wind farms before they even get started.

Last year, the Trump Interior Department effectively killed many early-stage offshore wind projects by stopping the approval of federal permits for renewable energy. This new deal builds on that, trying to ensure companies can’t continue building these projects, even under a future administration that might be friendlier to clean energy. The government is essentially buying back federal leases that TotalEnergies purchased under the Biden administration to develop two offshore wind farms off the coasts of New York and North Carolina.

The Justice Department is using nearly $1 billion in taxpayer funds to reimburse the company for the money it spent on those leases

Those two projects could have generated more than 4 gigawatts of electricity, which is a massive amount of power for US households and businesses, according to the developers. Instead, TotalEnergies will now use that money to develop a new liquified natural gas (LNG) plant in Texas. This plant is designed to help export US LNG overseas to Europe, according to CEO Patrick Pouyanné. The funds will also go towards the company’s oil drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico and various shale oil projects across the US.

“Considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the country’s interest, we have decided to renounce offshore wind development in the United States, in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees,” TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said in a statement. He added that these investments will contribute to supplying Europe with much-needed LNG from the US and provide gas for US data center development.

US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum echoed previous claims, stating that offshore wind is “one of the most expensive” forms of energy and is too unreliable since it only produces power when the wind blows. While offshore wind can be pricier upfront due to its unique supply chain, it has zero fuel costs once built. States also negotiate set power price agreements with developers, meaning prices don’t fluctuate like those for natural gas and oil.

Secretary Burgum stated, “We welcome TotalEnergies’ commitment to developing projects that produce dependable, affordable power to lower Americans’ monthly bills while providing secure US baseload power today—and in the future.”