Trump administration to reimburse Invenergy $765 million to cancel four U.S. offshore-wind leases

The Trump administration has agreed to reimburse Chicago-based power developer Invenergy $765 million to terminate four U.S. offshore-wind leases, including one off California’s central coast, in the latest step in a broader federal effort to unwind offshore-wind development and steer investment into other energy projects.

The leases covered by the agreement include the Leading Light Wind lease off New Jersey, which The Associated Press reported Invenergy had already canceled in November 2025, as well as two floating-wind leases in the Gulf of Maine and one floating-wind lease off California’s central coast. Invenergy is a major privately held U.S. power developer with assets in natural gas, renewables and storage.

Invenergy said the refunded money will be redirected into natural gas facilities in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, along with geothermal development in the West. Daniel Runyan, Invenergy’s senior vice president for development, said the company “will deploy additional capital into projects that can be delivered on a commercially reasonable timeline and meet customer demand while continuing to evaluate opportunities as market conditions evolve.”

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum cast the agreement as part of the administration’s push away from offshore wind and toward what it describes as more reliable energy sources. “Under President Trump, companies are shifting investment back toward dependable, secure energy infrastructure that can power our economy and lower utility costs,” Burgum said. He added: “We applaud Invenergy for recognizing the importance of baseload power and investing in energy solutions that deliver real benefits to American consumers.”

The Invenergy deal is not an isolated move. According to AP reporting, it brings the administration’s total commitments this year for similar offshore-wind lease buyouts or reimbursements to nearly $2.6 billion, following earlier agreements with other developers in March and April. The emerging policy pattern has been to pay companies to relinquish offshore-wind leases and shift capital into other projects, most of them in fossil fuels.

Those deals are already facing a legal challenge. A coalition of seven states led by New York sued the administration on June 2 over an earlier March offshore-wind lease cancellation arrangement, alleging the federal government lacked authority to strike such a deal under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the law that governs offshore energy leasing, and related statutes. The lawsuit argues the administration cannot simply cancel leases and reimburse developers in this way without legal authorization.

The latest agreement also carries political implications in California because one of the canceled leases was off the state’s central coast. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., criticized the move in a Bluesky post, saying the administration was using taxpayer money to end California energy projects. But the larger significance is national: the administration is continuing a deliberate policy of paying offshore-wind developers to walk away from leases while encouraging investment in natural gas and other non-wind energy infrastructure.