U.S. officials are drafting an agreement to pay nearly $1 billion to oil giant Total SA as compensation for canceling its wind farm leases in federal waters off New York and North Carolina, according to a media report on Tuesday.

Under the proposed settlement, the U.S. Department of the Interior would cancel the leases for two projects—Attentive Energy and Carolina Long Bay—located in federal waters. Subsequently, the U.S. Department of Justice would pay Total SA over $928 million to reimburse the company for the amounts it paid to win the leases during a lease auction held under the previous Biden administration.

In exchange, Total SA would abandon its plans to begin construction on these wind farms and would commit to investing in natural gas infrastructure in Texas. This aligns with the Trump administration's policy of prioritizing fossil fuels over renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

Total SA entered the U.S. offshore wind market in 2022 through a competitive federal auction. Via a joint venture with Germany's EnBW, the company secured the Attentive Energy area in the New York Bight for $795 million. It also separately won the OCS-A 0545 lease area for $160 million in the Carolina Long Bay offshore wind lease sale.

The Attentive Energy project is located 54 miles south of Jones Beach, Long Island, in federal waters. Once fully developed, it could supply power to over one million homes and businesses. The Carolina Long Bay project is situated 22 miles south of Bald Head Island, North Carolina, in federal waters, and could provide electricity for approximately 300,000 homes and businesses starting from the early 2030s.

Following Donald Trump's victory in the November 2024 U.S. presidential election, Total SA CEO Patrick Pouyanné stated the company would "pause" the project. At the time, the company considered holding the leases for the next four years, preserving the option to restart the project after Trump's term. The agreement currently under consideration by the administration would require the company to relinquish the leases entirely.

Trump has disparaged offshore wind since 2012, when he unsuccessfully attempted to block a wind farm visible from one of his golf courses in Scotland. He frequently labels such projects "ugly," "expensive," and "inefficient."

On the first day of his new term, January 20, 2025, Trump issued a presidential memorandum revoking all wind energy lease areas on the Outer Continental Shelf. On December 22, 2025, the Department of the Interior ordered a halt to five developed offshore wind projects, citing "national security risks identified by the Department of Defense." These five projects are: Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Sunrise Wind, and Empire Wind.

The developers of these projects have separately sued the government in federal district court, seeking emergency relief to complete construction. A preliminary injunction addressing the five legal challenges was approved in federal court on February 2, 2026, allowing all projects to resume development.

It remains unclear whether Total SA will accept the proposed settlement. If the company refuses, documents indicate the Trump administration would still cancel the leases, potentially leading to costly litigation that both sides would prefer to avoid.

Even if Total SA accepts the compensation, it would mark a significant shift in strategy for the Trump administration regarding wind farms that have won leases but not yet begun construction. This comes after the administration suffered a series of legal setbacks; five previous attempts to block wind farms already under construction were rejected by federal judges.