A coalition of seven US states has filed suit seeking to void a March agreement
under which the Trump administration paid TotalEnergies roughly $928m to
relinquish two US offshore wind leases and commit to directing the funds into
fossil-fuel projects. The complaint alleges the deal violates the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act and misuses Justice Department judgment funds, and
says cancelling the projects will harm state economies, energy supply and
climate targets. New York criticized the deal as an improper use of taxpayer
money; TotalEnergies had planned the Attentive Energy One project off New York,
which the suit says would have generated enough power for about 700,000 homes.
Total won the related lease in 2022 in an auction that set a record for US
competitive offshore-energy lease revenue.
