NC offshore wind project scrapped as Trump admin cancels leases

The Trump administration has canceled two large offshore wind-farm electrical generation leases that were approved under President Joe Biden. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made the announcement at a major energy conference in Houston, Texas. 

“The era of taxpayers subsidizing unreliable, unaffordable and unsecure energy is officially over, and the era of affordable, reliable and secure energy is here to stay,” Burgum said. 

In 2022, French energy company TotalEnergies secured two leases to develop major offshore wind farms off the coasts of New York and North Carolina. The Carolina Long Bay project was planned around 22 miles south of Bald Head Island in Brunswick County and was expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 300,000 homes. 

“This is very good news for electricity consumers in North Carolina,” said Jon Sanders, the director of the Center for Food, Power, and Life at the John Locke Foundation. “It’s also welcome news for people who live on the coast, for coastal fishing and tourism, for endangered whales and sea turtles, for other marine animals and avian species, for mariners, and for military training and operations.” 

In August of last year, Duke Energy sent a letter to the North Carolina Utilities Commission, stating that offshore wind energy production is not currently the most reliable, cost-effective energy source, and the energy company would not be issuing requests for proposals to pursue these projects. 

“An independent evaluation provided to Duke Energy by an independent evaluator last summer showed that offshore wind facilities would not be cost-effective, so Duke had withdrawn plans to develop them,” Sanders told Carolina Journal. “This move should further protect North Carolinians from the expensive mistake of offshore wind development. Wind is an intermittent, weather-reliant source of electricity, which among other things means it is unreliable and requires backup generation and storage.” 

Gov. Josh Stein took to social media slamming the Trump administration accusing them of spending “$1 billion in taxpayer money to pay off a company.”

The Trump Administration is spending nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money to pay off a company to stop investments in the clean energy we need. This is a terrible deal for the people of North Carolina and our country. https://t.co/FsmpuXMSYv

— Governor Josh Stein (@NC_Governor) March 24, 2026

The Trump administration will reimburse TotalEnergies the amount spent on the leases: $133 million for Carolina Long Bay and $795 million for the Bight lease in New York. 

“This agreement is yet another win for President Trump’s commitment to affordable and reliable energy for all Americans,” said Burgum in a press release. “Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally disruptive, and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on American ratepayers and taxpayers.” 

The US Department of the Interior, reports that TotalEnergies will invest approximately $1 billion in oil, natural gas, and LNG production in the United States. 

Patrick Pouyanné, the CEO of TotalEnergies, justified the move away from offshore wind, admitting it didn’t align with the current administration. 

“Considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the country’s interest, we have decided to renounce offshore wind development in the United States, in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees,” Pouyanné said. “Furthermore, these agreements, under which we will reinvest the refunded lease fees to finance the construction of the 29 Mt Rio Grande LNG plant and the development of our oil and gas activities, allows us to support the development of U.S. gas production and export.” 

Senate Bill 266 became law in 2025 after the North Carolina General Assembly overrode Stein’s veto, scrapping the state’s 70% carbon reduction target by 2030. 

Lawmakers say the move could save residents up to $15 billion in future utility costs while helping meet rapidly rising power demand. The state still maintains a long-term goal of reducing carbon emissions 100% from 2005 levels by 2050. 

“Especially given the recent increase in electricity demand, I’m hopeful that our utilities will focus their efforts on obtaining power generation from proven, reliable resources: natural gas, nuclear, and even coal,” Sanders said.

“NC offshore wind project scrapped as Trump admin cancels leases” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.