{"id":6483,"date":"2026-08-06T23:10:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T23:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6483"},"modified":"2026-08-06T23:10:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T23:10:51","slug":"gift-to-the-fossil-fuel-industry-rwe-ends-northern-california-offshore-wind-lease-in-1-22b-deal-with-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6483","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Gift to the fossil fuel industry\u2019: RWE ends Northern California offshore wind lease in $1.22B deal with Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Thursday, renewable energy company RWE announced that it entered into a $1.22 billion agreement with the Trump administration to relinquish its offshore wind leases. RWE is one of two companies, alongside Vineyard Offshore, that hold wind leases off California\u2019s North Coast through its RWE U.S. Offshore subsidiary.<\/p>\n

Read more Murder charges filed, defendant sought in deadly July shooting in San Jose<\/a><\/p>\n

According to a press release published by RWE Thursday morning, the company\u2019s settlement with the U.S. Department of Interior will \u201cresolve claims against the U.S. government and relinquish its offshore wind leases off the coasts of New York, California and Louisiana.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: Trump administration pays another offshore wind project to pull out of California<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cRWE U.S. Offshore secured these leases from the U.S. government with a long-term commitment to develop offshore wind capacity in American waters and invested more than $1 billion toward the leases and the development of these projects,\u201d RWE\u2019s release reads. \u201cThese leases provided legal rights to develop offshore projects and represented years of planning, investment, and partnership with federal agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter careful consideration, it was determined there is no path forward to permit these projects in the U.S. for the foreseeable future. The settlement resolves RWE U.S. Offshore\u2019s legal claims and provides $1.22 billion in settlement funds. The company determined that this resolution best serves the interests of its stakeholders and allows it to direct resources toward energy projects that can be advanced with certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news did not come as a shock.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s news is disappointing but not surprising,\u201d Environmental Protection Information Center Executive Director Tom Wheeler told the Times-Standard via an emailed statement Thursday morning. \u201cThe Trump Administration has used its full weight to hamper offshore wind development. Elsewhere, other offshore wind companies have already caved to the pressure. The winners today are the fossil fuel industry and the losers are Humboldt County and the planet. But tomorrow is a new day. The Trump Administration will end. And the promise of offshore wind remains: clean, reliable energy built locally by well-paying blue-collar jobs. The Trump Administration can delay, but it cannot suppress the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

RWE\u2019s press release says that the agreement will allow the company to \u201credeploy its capital to accelerate value-accretive opportunities that deliver reliable and affordable energy.\u201d That \u201credeployment\u201d is described as including \u201c$900 million to acquire an indirect 16% stake in the Louisiana LNG Project\u201d \u2014 a large-scale natural gas development that has been criticized as a major source of greenhouse gas pollution \u2014 and other natural gas projects throughout the U.S.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhile RWE\u2019s shareholders get their bag, the rest of us get the finger. We the people are paying for this buyout, and what we get in return is more expensive energy, backwards climate policy and greater harm to our communities,\u201d Assemblymember Chris Rogers told the Times-Standard via email Thursday morning. \u201cThe Trump Administration is again using taxpayer dollars to settle personal vendettas and line the pockets of his friends and donors by protecting oil profiteers from the competition of clean, affordable and renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\u2018Every American should be enraged.\u2019<\/h4>\n

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), ranking Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives\u2019 Committee on Natural Resources, released a statement Thursday morning just before noon, calling the DOI and RWE\u2019s agreement a \u201cfake settlement\u201d and saying that \u201cthe deals are deeply corrupt and illegal\u201d and \u201cwhen the accountability comes, and I promise you accountability is coming, everyone involved in them will answer for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most corrupt, lawless administration in American history is once again flouting the law and attempting to use over $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to kill off clean energy projects slated to create thousands of good jobs and lower electricity bills for Californians,\u201d Huffman said. \u201cTrump is strongarming companies into taking these illegal deals and abandoning offshore wind projects that would put huge amounts of cheap electricity on the grid and lower electricity prices. Instead, he is pressuring them to invest not only in dirty fossil fuel projects, but in LNG export facilities that push domestic energy prices even higher at a time when American families are reeling from skyrocketing costs caused by his reckless war of choice in Iran.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOne of the projects illegally canceled in this fake settlement is off the coast of Humboldt County in my district. The benefits of that project were tremendous \u2014 revitalizing the economy of a rural community, creating thousands of quality jobs and lowering utility bills for families all across California. Like a mob boss, Trump tightened the screws on RWE and, shamefully, the company capitulated and went along with this sham deal that robs the American people and makes a mockery of RWE\u2019s stated commitments to clean energy. When these illegal, fake settlements are reversed by the courts and\/or future congressional action \u2014 and they will be \u2014 RWE and others who participate in these charades will own every bit of the shame they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Huffman said that the total cost to the taxpayers for paying companies to abandon offshore leases already ads up to \u201cthe tune of about $4 billion\u201d noting that such settlements have thus far employed funding intended for the payout of federal lawsuits and settlements.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump is using the Judgment Fund as a slush fund to pay for it. This is the same pot of taxpayer money Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche tried to use for his so-called \u2018Anti-Weaponization Fund\u2019 to pay off convicted J6 felons,\u201d Huffman said. \u201cOnce again, we see this administration\u2019s priorities laid bare: treating a fund that exists to resolve valid claims and liabilities as a massive personal slush fund Trump can use to reward criminals, kill off clean energy projects and do virtually anything else that serves his personal and political interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: California investigates Trump administration\u2019s deal to end an offshore wind project<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spokesperson Anthony Martinez from Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s office provided the Times-Standard with the following statement: \u201cThe pattern is impossible to ignore. After getting beaten in court again and again, Trump has stopped trying to win on the merits and continues to make backroom deals to kill clean energy projects \u2014 a gift to his fossil fuel industry donors at the expense of America\u2019s economic security.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile China and other global competitors race to dominate the technologies that will power the future, California is building a modern grid, energy independence and an energy future that Trump is too small to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis action by the Trump Administration is utter BS,\u201d Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) said in an emailed statement delivered around 1 p.m. \u201cThe overall California RWE wind project would have advanced clean, reliable wind energy \u2014 enough to power 5 million homes \u2014 and created good rural jobs for the North Coast. Seemingly ripped from a script of VEEP, Trump is now forcing RWE\u2019s hand to reinvest in the same fossil fuels which delivered the climate crisis to our door. This is yet another example of how off the rails the Trump Administration has gone. Total buffoonery.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Interior Department provided a statement from Secretary of the Interior and Chairman of the National Energy Dominance Council Doug Burgum on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmericans deserve an energy system built on common sense, not one dependent on costly subsidies or technologies that can\u2019t meet our country\u2019s current demand,\u201d said Burgum. \u201cWe welcome RWE\u2019s agreement and voluntary investment in projects that strengthen our nation\u2019s energy security, provide dependable baseload power, and help keep electricity affordable for hardworking Americans today while supporting our country\u2019s long-term energy future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more San Jose: Man arrested on suspicion of string of armed robberies<\/a><\/p>\n

Robert Schaulis can be reached at 707-441-0585.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The company\u2019s settlement with the U.S. Department of Interior also ends wind leases in Louisiana and New York.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Gift to the fossil fuel industry\u2019: RWE ends Northern California offshore wind lease in $1.22B deal with Trump - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6483\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Gift to the fossil fuel industry\u2019: RWE ends Northern California offshore wind lease in $1.22B deal with Trump - 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