U.S. Treasury Pays $1.2 Billion to Cancel Offshore Wind Leases in Deal with RWE

The U.S. Department of the Interior reached a settlement with German energy company RWE to terminate offshore wind lease agreements near New York, California and Louisiana. The deal, valued at about $1.22 billion, will redirect the funds to fossil-fuel projects. RWE will invest $900 million to acquire a 16 percent stake in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Louisiana operated by Woodside Energy, and will spend $300 million on a pipeline of 15 natural-gas peaker plants across the United States. The company said the settlement resolves its legal claims and allows it to allocate resources to energy projects with greater certainty. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the agreement reflects the administration’s support for projects that enhance national energy security. This is the fifth similar arrangement in which the administration has paid companies to abandon renewable-energy contracts, bringing total government spending on such settlements to roughly $4 billion.