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My quick skim, I think you are right. This is getting them to halt new development, by buying them off with the equivalent of the subsidies the current administration cancelled.
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>by buying them off with the equivalent of the subsidies the current administration cancelled

no, the billion that is being "paid" is a refund of what Total paid in for the leases. Total paid that into the US govt in anticipation of receiving returns on that investment in the form of "clean energy subsidies".

it is not clear from what is in the news story whether Total is being compensated for the would-have-been future subsidies, or whether Total simply expects to make decent profits from fossil fuels.

if one's interest is in the "clean energy" angle, then this is a "defeat". if one's interest is in reducing govt subsidies, this could be "a win", but it's not exactly clear.

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What an amazing deal. We get nothing and the contractors we negotiated with get money for it!

Truly, the deals this administration crafts are nonpareil!

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These ones no construction had been started yet AFAIK.

If AI summery is to be trusted, a few other windparks got stopped that where almost done, but got completed anyway after a legal battle. Vineyard Wind 1, Coastal Virginia (CVOW), Empire Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind.

Again, got it from AI, make of that what you want.

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The feds have dropped their attempts to stop those from ongoing construction for now, but only one of those projects is complete.

CVOW is supposed to flow first power this month, but won't be done for ~a year, Empire Wind is also end of '26/early '27, Sunrise later in 2027.

Vineyard was completed this month, and Revolution is delivering power and targets completion over the next few months.

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