US Senator Alex Padilla, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and a group of 12 other senators have launched an investigation into the Trump Administration's agreements with four offshore wind developers to terminate their projects.
The senators are seeking information from the companies regarding lease buyout agreements under which the Administration has agreed to pay more than $2.7 billion in taxpayer funding for the projects to be abandoned.
According to the senators, the cancelled projects would have supplied electricity to millions of homes and supported significant investment in research and development, port infrastructure, workforce training and community programmes. They cited the two Invenergy projects in the Gulf of Maine, the Leading Light Wind project in the New York Bight and the Golden State Wind project off California as examples of developments expected to deliver substantial economic and employment benefits.
The senators have requested internal communications from the companies and are seeking details on whether the Administration cited national security concerns, whether the agreements included commitments to invest in fossil fuel projects, and whether any other conditions were attached to the payments.
The investigation is led by Senators Alex Padilla, Chuck Schumer, Brian Schatz, Angus King and Martin Heinrich, and is supported by Senators Richard Blumenthal, Chris Coons, John Hickenlooper, Ed Markey, Adam Schiff, Chris Van Hollen, Peter Welch, Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren.
