The Trump administration said it will pay Duke Energy $129 million to surrender its federal lease for an offshore wind farm planned off North Carolina, extending a policy of terminating offshore projects after court losses over earlier stop-work orders.
For Duke Energy, the decision comes with a price tag: $129 million.
On Monday. the Trump administration said it would reimburse the utility to abandon its plans for an offshore wind farm off North Carolina—an agreement that would require Duke Energy to surrender its lease in federal waters for a project planned in the Carolina Long Bay area. roughly 15 to 22 miles off the southeastern coast. The project was still in the early stages of development, and construction had not begun.
The payment is the fourth deal of its kind struck by the administration to slow or stop offshore wind power. The administration has repeatedly attacked the sector, and President Trump has disparaged offshore wind power for decades.
The government’s reimbursement would be “slightly less” than what Duke Energy paid for the lease under the Biden administration. After receiving the money. the utility says it would reinvest the reimbursement into other energy sources favored by the Trump administration. which could include new nuclear and natural gas projects.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum framed the agreement as part of a broader push toward what he calls affordable, reliable energy. “President Trump’s vision of unleashing affordable. reliable American energy for our country’s communities and using common sense to put the American people first is being implemented. ” Burgum said in a statement on Monday.
He also repeated an argument that has already been tested in court: that offshore wind farms threaten national security. Last year. the Interior Department cited those concerns when it ordered a halt to the construction of five other wind farms off the East Coast. arguing that spinning turbines could interfere with military radar.
Several federal judges struck down those stop-work orders, saying they were not persuaded by the administration’s arguments. After those losses, the administration pivoted. Instead of trying to block offshore wind construction directly, it began paying developers to walk away.
The policy began with a first major deal in March. when the administration struck an agreement with the French energy company TotalEnergies. That agreement included a nearly $1 billion payment to abandon plans for two wind farms—one off New York and another in the same area off North Carolina. Seven Democratic-controlled states sued the administration over that agreement, saying it was an illegal use of taxpayer dollars.
With Monday’s Duke Energy settlement, the administration has now committed to spend more than $2.5 billion to get companies to terminate their offshore wind leases.
Duke Energy says the settlement will be used to benefit its customers. “This settlement allows Duke Energy to refocus $129 million in ways that directly benefit our customers and communities in the Carolinas. ” said Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe. the executive vice president and chief executive of Duke Energy Carolinas. in a statement.
Riley Cook. a spokesman for Duke Energy. said in an email that the $129 million would be reinvested in “reliable. diverse energy sources that can help meet growing demand” for electricity. Cook said the investments could flow to nuclear reactors and “grid infrastructure projects” in the Carolinas. though he did not provide specific details.
Opponents see the trade differently. Scientists and environmentalists have argued that offshore wind farms could play a crucial role in the fight against climate change—because wind turbines do not generate greenhouse gases that warm the planet. and because offshore wind does not require the same kind of land use that large-scale solar farms can involve.
Pasha Feinberg. an offshore wind strategist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. called the deal a detour from meeting the country’s electricity needs. “We need more electricity, not less,” Feinberg said in a statement. “Canceling clean energy projects is self-defeating. Paying off companies so they will abandon them is just ludicrous.”.
In North Carolina, the politics around offshore wind are not abstract. Representatives for Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in March. Stein sharply criticized the administration’s TotalEnergies agreement. saying the state needed the clean energy and well-paying jobs that the company’s Carolina Long Bay project would have generated.
There is now a second phase of the same fight. playing out under a different mechanism: court challenges over stop-work orders have given way to settlements that turn opposition into compensation—each payment transforming an energy plan into paperwork. and leaving the future of offshore wind off North Carolina hanging on what the administration chooses to fund instead.
Trump administration Duke Energy offshore wind North Carolina Doug Burgum Interior Department Carolina Long Bay TotalEnergies federal lease national security military radar federal judges offshore wind lawsuits Josh Stein
So they pay them to quit… awesome use of money.
I don’t get it. They said national security but then it’s like “here’s $129 million” for what, just to stop? Seems backwards to me.
Wait so Duke had to stop because of court stuff and then Trump’s team just pays them and calls it common sense? If the lease was Biden’s anyway, doesn’t that mean Biden already paid for it first? Feels like everyone’s just passing bills around.
Offshore wind 15 to 22 miles out like that’s not even far. But sure, “threaten national security” 🙄. They could’ve just left it alone and let it build, now we’re gonna get more gas/nuclear somehow… okay.