Seven US States Sue Trump Administration Over TotalEnergies Offshore Wind Deal

Seven US states, led by New York, have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s agreement with TotalEnergies to cancel the company’s offshore wind lease off the coast of New York in exchange for reimbursement of the lease payment and commitment to invest in US fossil fuel projects.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James announced on 2 June that New York is leading a coalition with Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont in suing the federal government over the March 2026 deal involving TotalEnergies and its subsidiary Attentive Energy.

“This pay-not-to-play scheme pressuring a foreign company to forego planned offshore wind projects in America in favor of gas and oil drilling is an outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars that hurts our ability to meet our energy needs, create good jobs, and help secure American energy independence while reducing emissions”, Governor Hochul said. 

“Attorney General James and I will continue to aggressively fight back against Donald Trump’s overt and never-ending hostility toward offshore wind, including his unlawful use of the most powerful office in the world to get private companies like TotalEnergies to bow to his will.”

The agreement reached by TotalEnergies and the US Department of the Interior (DOI) in March involves the DOI cancelling two offshore wind leases and reimbursing TotalEnergies for the lease payments through the federal Judgment Fund, while the company committed to investing in oil and gas projects in Texas and pledged not to pursue new offshore wind developments in the US.

The agreement concerns the Attentive Energy lease areas in the New York Bight, planned to host the Attentive Energy One project for New York and Attentive Energy Two for New Jersey, and a lease area in Carolina Long Bay. Through the deal with the federal government, the developer is eligible to get a USD 928 million (around EUR 800 million) reimbursement, including the Attentive Energy payment of USD 795 million and the Carolina Long Bay payment of USD 133.3 million.

The New York Governor’s office said the Attentive Energy One offshore wind project was expected to power more than 700,000 homes, generate more than 1,700 jobs in New York and deliver electricity directly to New York City. The state also said the project could have brought USD 25.6 billion in economic benefits over its lifetime, including an estimated USD 10 billion in electricity bill savings.

The coalition argues that the DOI unlawfully cancelled the leases without following procedures under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which requires a hearing and specific findings that continued lease activity would likely cause serious harm to life, property, national security or the environment. The lawsuit also claims the reimbursement payment violates the Judgment Fund Act because no imminent litigation existed that would justify such a settlement.

The states pointed out that offshore wind remains an important component of their electricity and climate strategies, particularly as power demand is expected to increase significantly over the coming years.

Industry organisation Oceantic Network also reacted to the lawsuit announcement. “For more than a year, offshore wind has faced an unprecedented and unrelenting campaign of political interference despite billions in private investment, state commitments, and court rulings”, said Liz Burdock, President and CEO of Oceantic Network.

The organisation added that the cancellation of a single 1 GW offshore wind project could erase between USD 8.5 billion and USD 9.5 billion in US economic output, based on its modelling and operational project benchmarks.

The lawsuit against the Trump administration led by the State of New York follows mounting scrutiny surrounding the federal government’s offshore wind lease cancellation agreements.

After TotalEnergies, the US government also reached a similar deal with two Ocean Winds-led joint ventures, and reports have also emerged that RWE was considering a potential arrangement with the US administration.

A source from the US offshore wind industry recently told offshoreWIND.biz that “these agreements are not yet final and […] they may not even be legal.”