RWE’s $1.22B exit marks the latest in Trump’s billion-dollar offshore wind buyouts—now topping $3B to redirect developers to fossil fuels

The Trump administration’s trend of paying off offshore wind developers to cancel their projects continued Aug. 6 with the $1.22 billion agreement for RWE to nix its wind leases off New York, California, and Louisiana, and instead invest the money in natural gas.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) settlement with Germany-based RWE extends the effort initiated by President Donald Trump’s personal disdain for offshore wind turbines. The slate of cancelations began with a $1 billion agreement in March with France’s TotalEnergies, and additional deals followed to eliminate wind projects with Chicago-based Invenergy, Spain’s Ocean Winds, the U.K.’s Reventus Power, and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners.

The RWE agreement includes the cancelation of the Community Offshore Wind project off New York and New Jersey, as well as additional leases off the coast o...