U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced an end to Biden-era offshore wind farm projects to divert investments into American fossil fuel development.
Burgum spoke at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates Week (CERAWeek) in a joint press conference with French TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné on Monday to announce the end of the project. Burgum and Pouyanné signed a written agreement marking the end of TotalEnergies’ offshore wind farm, including a $928 million reimbursement for lease purchases TotalEnergies made for the green energy project.
The Department of Interior (DOI) announced in a Monday press release that the Trump administration will cancel TotalEnergies’ lease agreements located in Carolina Long Bay and New York Bright.
“This announcement, which we are making today, I’ll say it’s a quadruple win, not just a triple win, but it is a win for affordability. It is a win for reliability. It’s a win for national security,” said Burgum.
“The fourth win, it’s also a win for Total[Energies] because Total[Energies] had reasonably invested in something where they thought there was going to be a bunch of subsidies,” Burgum continued. “With the Working Families tax cut bill last year, which put an end to a number of these enormous tax subsidies, we can go back to the business of producing electricity for American families and American businesses.”
Burgum said Biden-era policies lured companies into green energy projects by creating “artificial demand” with government subsidies. He reiterated that the Trump administration believes in “energy reality” and not “climate fantasy.”
The Secretary also noted that the administration wants America to be “energy abundant” so U.S. geopolitical allies do not have to rely on “adversaries that are either funding wars or funding terrorism” to purchase critical energy supplies from.
TotalEnergies will invest the $928 million into the Texas Rio Grande LNG plant and developing upstream conventional oil in the Gulf of America and shale gas production, according to a DOI press release.
Pouyanné said TotalEnergies studied the lease for the offshore wind farms and concluded the project was not the most energy-efficient option to America. Pouyanné cited the vast resources and land that America can readily access for other projects more affordable than offshore wind.
Pouyanné said the price for electricity from the green energy farm would be $150 per megawatt per hour and required government subsidies in New York and New Jersey. Pouyanné said TotalEnergies will now focus its American investments on the most effective energy sources to help offset power demands required for Artificial Intelligence data centers, citing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and electricity as likely investments for Total.
“These reinvestments by TotalEnergies will directly advance the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to lower costs for American families, increase baseload and grid reliability and help maintain global leadership in artificial intelligence,” said the DOI in their press release.
This is one of several Trump administration policies pushing energy investment from allied nations. President Donald Trump announced Friday during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi a massive data center trade agreement between America and Japan, committing more than 20 Japanese and American companies to developing a natural gas and data center hub in Ohio.
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