Overview
- The Department of the Interior announced Monday that it will reimburse Duke Energy about $129 million in return for the company voluntarily terminating its Carolina Long Bay offshore wind lease.
- Duke said it will reinvest the funds in additional generation and grid work in the Carolinas, naming possible investments in new nuclear units, natural gas plants and grid enhancements.
- The Duke deal is the fourth federal offshore-wind lease buyout this year, bringing announced reimbursements to roughly $2.7 billion after earlier settlements with TotalEnergies, Ocean Winds-related JVs and Invenergy.
- Environmental groups and several state officials condemned the settlement as a setback for clean energy and jobs, and lawsuits and earlier court rulings have already challenged the administration’s stop-work orders and use of federal funds.
- Canceling the lease removes an early-stage project that was estimated to supply roughly 1.6–3.0 GW (commonly cited as about 300,000 homes), heightens planning and investment uncertainty for coastal states, and makes near-term additions of firm power more likely.