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New York Challenges Trump Offshore Wind Lease Cancellation in Lawsuit

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New York and six other states have sued the Trump administration over a deal that would pay TotalEnergies $795 million to abandon an offshore wind lease off New York's coast, Governor Kathy Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday.

Calling the arrangement a "pay-not-to-play scheme," Hochul said the administration pressured a foreign energy company to walk away from offshore wind projects in favor of oil and gas investments.

The lawsuit challenges a March 2026 agreement under which TotalEnergies (TTE) would surrender two offshore wind leases, invest hundreds of millions of dollars in fossil fuel projects and pledge not to pursue new offshore wind developments in the US.

A TotalEnergies subsidiary, Attentive Energy, planned to develop the New York lease, which was expected to provide electricity to more than 700,000 homes and generate $25.6 billion in economic benefits over 25 years, including $10 billion in energy-bill savings.

State officials said the project also would have created 1,716 jobs in New York while supporting infrastructure investment and long-term economic growth.

"The Trump administration is once again trying to kill clean energy projects and destroy good-paying jobs for New Yorkers," Attorney General Letitia James said.

Attentive Energy paid $795 million for the offshore wind lease in 2022, but the Department of the Interior canceled the project in March 2026 after citing national security concerns and agreed to reimburse the company the same amount from the Judgment Fund.

After courts blocked earlier attempts to halt wind-energy development, the administration "cooked up a sham deal to pay a foreign energy company hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to abandon offshore wind and invest in oil and gas instead," James said.

The coalition, which includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont, argues the administration violated federal law and is asking the court to void the agreement, restore the lease and prevent further action to implement the deal.

Department of the Interior and TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to' request for comment.

Price: $89.58, Change: $+0.87, Percent Change: +0.98%

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