TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport has joined seven other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over agreements to cancel two offshore wind leases, including projects planned off New Jersey and Long Island.
The multistate coalition filed two lawsuits against the U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Department of Justice, alleging the settlement agreements unlawfully cancel leases for major offshore wind projects.
According to Davenport’s office, the administration is paying project developers more than $1.4 billion to abandon offshore wind projects and instead invest those funds in oil and gas development outside the state. The coalition alleges the money is being unlawfully taken from the Judgment Fund, a taxpayer-funded account used to settle claims arising from actual or imminent litigation against the federal government.
“This Administration is paying developers to abandon building new sources of energy at a time when our grid needs more power to meet demand and residents need relief from high electricity prices,” said Attorney General Davenport. “Wind energy creates well-paid jobs and reduces our reliance on fossil fuels. The president cannot redirect public funds to make unauthorized investments in oil and gas simply because he favors the fossil fuel industry.”
The leases involve two offshore wind projects in the New York Bight, an area of ocean between Long Island and New Jersey, as well as additional projects off the coasts of other states.
Invenergy won leases in auctions in 2022 and 2024, paying $645 million for about 84,000 acres in the New York Bight and nearly $11 million for about 216,000 acres in the Gulf of Maine.
According to the attorney general’s office, the projects Invenergy intended to build were anticipated to have a combined capacity of about 5 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power approximately 2 million homes in New York, New Jersey, Maine and Massachusetts.
Bluepoint won its lease in a competitive auction in 2022, paying $765 million for 71,000 acres. The project was anticipated to generate 2.4 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power approximately 1.5 million homes in New York and New Jersey.
The lawsuits follow a separate case filed in June by New Jersey and other states challenging a settlement that attempted to cancel a $795 million offshore wind lease with Attentive Energy, a subsidiary of French energy company TotalEnergies. That project would have delivered energy to New York and New Jersey, according to Davenport’s office. The litigation remains ongoing.
The attorney general’s office said the Trump administration has cited unspecified “national security issues” as justification for terminating the offshore wind leases. The coalition argues any legitimate national security issues were already considered when the leases were awarded and are routinely addressed during the federal permitting process.
Davenport and the coalition allege the settlement agreements violate the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Administrative Procedure Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Judgment Fund Act.
The coalition is asking the court to strike down the settlements, vacate the lease cancellations and prevent the administration from taking further action to implement the agreements.
Joining Davenport in both lawsuits are the attorneys general of New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont. The lawsuits are being led by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
California is filing a separate, concurrent lawsuit challenging an agreement between Invenergy and the administration to cancel a lease off its coast.
