What We Sought
The Trump-Vance administration has made no secret of its efforts to stifle renewable energy projects — even after a federal judge ruled in February that five offshore wind projects could resume construction following the administration’s pause of five leases in December 2025.
Now, the Trump-Vance administration has entered agreements to pay billions of dollars to energy companies to abandon their plans to build wind farms off the U.S. coast: in March, it agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to TotalEnergies to cancel two projects off the coasts of New York State and North Carolina, and in April agreed to pay a combined $885 million to cancel projects by Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind off the coasts of New York, New Jersey, and California.
We’re investigating this unprecedented effort to pay billions of dollars of taxpayer money to shut down private renewable energy projects. We’re seeking a range of records from the Department of the Interior (DOI), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Department of Justice, and Department of Treasury to shed light on the decision-making behind and the source of funds for these agreements. Specifically, our records requests seek:
- Final copies of lease-refund agreement(s) entered into by DOI and energy companies;
- Records sufficient to identify the sources of funds to reimburse energy companies for billions of dollars in its lease-refund agreements with DOI;
- Records reflecting payments made from the Judgment Fund to energy companies pursuant to these lease-fund agreements, as well as memoranda used to justify use of the Judgment Fund for this purpose;
- Records reflecting legal claims or demands by energy companies against DOI regarding their leases; and
- Email communications of senior DOI and BOEM officials with energy companies.
What We Have Received
We are waiting for a meaningful response to the majority of our FOIA requests from the government.
