Trump deal scraps two Gulf of Maine wind energy leases

Energy giant Invenergy will abandon two of its offshore wind power projects in the Gulf of Maine as part of a $765 million deal with the Trump administration to invest in fossil fuel power plants instead.

Under the arrangement, Chicago-based Invenergy will give up offshore leases in California, New York and Massachusetts. The lease payments will instead be redirected to building natural gas power plants in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri and a geothermal generation project in the American west, according to the U.S. Department of Interior.

In a statement, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said companies were shifting investment back to dependable energy infrastructure. President Donald Trump is openly hostile to offshore wind power and his administration is pro-fossil fuel energy.

"The offshore wind leases were sold under the assumptions that taxpayers would indefinitely subsidize costly, unreliable projects and that no national security concerns were implicated — both assumptions have since been proven false," Burgum said.

In an Invenergy statement, the company said U.S. demand for electricity is expected to grow 20-40% over the next decade and it was dropping its offshore wind plans to receive a partial lease refund it can deploy for conventional generators.

"The approach will bring more megawatts to the grid and advance projects that can move forward today," the company said.

This is the third deal the U.S. has made with energy companies to walk away from offshore wind plans.

Environmental groups called the arrangements illegal and said they were aimed at undermining opportunities to develop renewable power.

Jack Shapiro, climate and clean energy director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said the administration's moves to abandon new sources of electricity generation at a time of escalating prices "defies logic."

"At a time when the risks of dependence on imported fuels are right in front of our noses, we should be doing more to invest in the American-made energy of the future, not less," Shapiro said.

Invenergy paid less than $11 million for the two Gulf of Maine leases in 2024. Maine has regarded floating offshore wind as a key way to meet its clean energy goals and encourage economic development and job creation.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, in a statement, said the government's legally questionable plan was an "egregious waste of taxpayer money and a shortsighted decision that will hurt our ability to reduce our reliance on expensive imported fuel."

The lease areas in the Gulf of Maine were assigned after years of planning and consultation, Mills added.

"As many countries around the world, including neighboring Canada, move to harness the benefits of offshore wind, today’s announcement by the Trump Administration further risks that we will be left behind," the governor said.

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