Trump administration’s latest buyback of offshore wind leases brings total to nearly $4 billion - AP News

RWE U.S. Offshore announced Thursday it reached a $1.2 billion settlement with the Trump administration to abandon offshore wind projects under development off New York, California and Louisiana, bringing total spending on such buybacks to nearly $4 billion (roughly $3.9 billion).
In exchange for $1.22 billion, RWE relinquished leases that could have generated about seven gigawatts of power—enough for more than 5 million homes—leaving the Germany-based company with no remaining U.S. offshore wind leases.
RWE said it plans to invest $900 million in a Louisiana liquefied natural gas project and $300 million on natural gas turbines, and is developing 15 natural gas projects across the United States.
The administration turned to buying back leases after federal courts blocked President Trump's attempts to halt offshore wind development via executive action; Trump has said his goal is to prevent any "windmills" from being built, favoring fossil fuels over cleanly produced wind power.
States losing offshore wind energy are suing, and California intends to sue; separately, a federal judge in Oregon ruled Thursday for renewable energy groups, ordering the Defense Department to resume national security reviews for onshore wind farms on private lands and report on its progress.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum praised RWE's voluntary investment as strengthening energy security and providing dependable baseload power without costly subsidies, while Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse characterized the buybacks as effectively paying companies to walk away from clean energy.