According to a press statement from Invenergy, it would receive a partial refund of capital it previously paid to the government for the leases and be required to make investments into domestic natural gas and geothermal projects as part of the deal. According to Ranking Member Huffman of the House Natural Resources Committee and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Raskin in April, the Trump Administration drew the almost $1 billion payment to TotalEnergies from the Judgement Fund, an account created by Congress in 1956….

KEYT reported that california Sues Trump Administration Over Deal To Kill Local Offshore Wind Project. Opened Tuesday's filing in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Stated Attorney General Bonta in a press release about Tuesday's filing.

An equal amount in the development of U.S. oil and gas assets, energy infrastructure, and/or LNG projects along the Gulf Coast. Explained Tuesday's lawsuit.

The image below shows the successful bidders in 2022 for two large offshore wind energy projects along the California coast. For example, Golden State Wind previously agreed to abandon its lease within the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area and could recover around $120 million from the Trump Administration, but only after the company made an investment of, "an equal amount in the…. The details of the deal are of acute interest to both law enforcers and lawmakers.

Prior offshore wind deals, including an almost $1 billion deal with French energy giant TotalEnergies, to terminate its offshore wind projects are subject to Congressional investigation. In April of this year, the Trump Administration announced it was paying TotalEnergies $928,333,333 to not pursue two offshore wind energy projects in the Atlantic Ocean and instead invest in domestic fossil fuel projects. Reports differed on some details.

Reports differed on some details. Reports differed on some details.

When Secretary [of the Interior] Burgum signed the settlement agreements in March 2026, the agreements' own recitals framed it a settlement agreement. After coming under fire, he abandoned that characterization entirely,.

He [Secretary of the Interior Burgum] now publicly describes the settlement agreement as a refund. Neither characterization is legally sufficient to gift TotalEnergies with nearly $1 billion taxpayer dollars. Nor can Secretary Burgum cure one defect by retreating to another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law. Noted Tuesday's lawsuit. Not taxpayer dollars.

Approved by the Department of Justice. The constitutional stakes are greater than a single improper payment,.

[T]he Settlement Agreement presents multiple abuses of federal appropriations process. First, by providing for payment from the Judgment Fund, the Settlement Agreement violates both the Judgment Fund Act, 31 U.S.C. § 1304, and the Antideficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. § 1341,.

Entitled to receive the lesser of two amounts: the fair value of the cancelled rights as of the date of cancellation, or the excess of the lessee's total expenditures on the lease over revenues received.

Explained Attorney General Bonta in this week's filing in federal court. Exists only to develop the Morro Bay offshore wind energy project, the agreement requires Invenergy to direct the required fossil-energy investment through its corporate parents or their subsidiaries.

To date, the Federal Defendants have directed nearly $4 billion from the Judgment Fund toward cancelling twelve offshore wind energy projects, including three of the five federal leases that would serve California's power grid,.

On information and belief, none of the fossil fuel investments announced in these buyouts would generate energy for California. California, including through CEC [California Energy Commission], has invested over $100 million tosupport Lease OCS-P 0565 and the other offshore wind leases,.

SAN FRANCISCO (KEYT), Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the legality of a deal struck between a California-based offshore wind company and the Trump Administration to abandon a local offshore wind energy project for an over $111 million….

On June 17, 2026, the Department of the Interior announced an agreement to buyout Invenergy California Offshore LLC.'s federal leases for large-scale offshore wind energy projects at the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area, in the New York Bight, and in the Gulf….

In July of this year, Attorney General Bonta sent a Notice of Intent to Sue, providing a 60-day window for the Trump Administration to cure any potential violations without court proceedings.

The difference between categorizing the payments as a refund for a lease terminated by the federal government or a subsidized investment is a serious legal question.

Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution states, " No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law".

Those claims are now subject to Freedom of Information Act requests filed by Your News Channel.

July's announcement from the Department of the Interior also characterized the deal with Invenergy as a "settlement agreement" as well as a "partial reimbursement" and also used money from the Judgment Fund.

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