Davenport sues Trump administration over cancellation of offshore wind leases

Attorney General Jennifer Davenport joined seven other state attorneys general Tuesday in suing the Trump administration over agreements to cancel offshore wind leases, including two projects expected to supply electricity to New Jersey and other Northeast states.

The coalition filed two lawsuits against the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice challenging settlements with Bluepoint Wind and Invenergy that would terminate offshore wind leases and reimburse the developers with more than $1.4 billion in federal funds. The agreements require the companies to redirect money into conventional energy development.

“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,” Davenport said.

Invenergy paid $645 million for roughly 84,000 acres in the New York Bight and nearly $11 million for about 216,000 acres in the Gulf of Maine.  Its proposed projects were expected to generate about five gigawatts of electricity.

Bluepoint paid $765 million for a 71,000-acre New York Bight lease. Its proposed 2.4-gigawatt project was expected to provide enough electricity for approximately 1.5 million New York and New Jersey homes.  Federal records confirm the Bluepoint and Invenergy New York Bight leases are subject to cancellation under settlement agreements.

The states contend the settlements violate the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Administrative Procedure Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Judgment Fund Act.  They are asking a federal court to void the agreements and restore the leases.

New Jersey filed a similar lawsuit in June challenging the cancellation of a $795 million offshore wind lease held by Attentive Energy. That litigation remains pending.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading the new lawsuits, joined by New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont.