The Trump administration has made another deal to cancel a U.S. offshore wind project, this time with Duke Energy. The company will voluntarily give up its lease off the Carolinas and will invest $129 million in new power generation and grid improvements instead.
On Monday, the Department of the Interior announced that Duke Energy will surrender its offshore wind lease in the Carolina Long Bay area as part of a negotiated agreement. This settlement allows the company to reinvest the same amount into energy resources to serve customers throughout the Carolinas.
According to the Department of the Interior, this investment may include new nuclear power, natural gas plants, and upgrades to the electric grid aimed at enhancing reliability and meeting the growing demand for electricity.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stated that this agreement supports President Donald Trump's energy strategy while helping to lower costs for consumers.
“President Trump’s vision is to provide affordable and reliable American energy to communities while prioritizing the needs of the people," Burgum said. “With this deal, Duke Energy can turn a national security concern into projects that will reduce costs for customers in North Carolina and nearby states.”
Duke Energy described the agreement as a way to shift funding to projects that will benefit customers more directly.
“This settlement enables Duke Energy to redirect $129 million into projects that will directly benefit our customers and communities in the Carolinas,” said Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe, Executive Vice President and CEO of Duke Energy Carolinas. “The agreement allows us to invest in additional generating capacity, which may include new nuclear and natural gas projects, along with grid enhancements to improve reliability, accommodate growth, and keep costs down.”
Carolina Long Bay Lease
The Carolina Long Bay lease was granted during a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management auction in 2022, where Duke Energy Renewables Wind placed a successful bid of about $155 million for one of the two lease areas available off North Carolina and South Carolina. At that time, the auction was seen as a sign of increasing industry interest in U.S. offshore wind.
The Duke Energy deal is the latest in a series of agreements through which the Trump administration has encouraged offshore wind developers to give up their leases in exchange for redirecting funding into traditional energy projects.
Earlier this month, the administration announced a $765 million agreement with Invenergy, which covers four offshore wind leases in New York, California, and the Gulf of Maine. This follows similar agreements with TotalEnergies, Bluepoint Wind, and Golden State Wind, bringing the total investment redirected from offshore wind leases to over $2.5 billion.
Instead of mainly relying on legal actions or regulatory measures to stop offshore wind development, the administration has increasingly opted for negotiated settlements to shape the future of the industry while directing private investment toward natural gas, LNG, nuclear, and other essential energy infrastructures aligned with its “Energy Dominance” agenda.
These negotiated settlements represent a significant change from the Biden administration, which conducted six offshore wind lease sales that generated about $5.6 billion in winning bids and expanded leasing to the Pacific Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Central Atlantic, and Gulf of Maine.
This strategy is still controversial. Several states have challenged previous agreements in federal court, arguing that the administration does not have the authority to reverse offshore wind leases using negotiated settlements instead of following standard offshore leasing processes.
For the maritime industry, each canceled lease diminishes the number of future offshore wind projects, which would have created demand for Jones Act-compliant installation vessels, feeder barges, port infrastructure, and domestic supply chains along the U.S. East Coast.