Oceantic calls the Invenergy payment an unlawful use of taxpayer money
Oceantic NetworkOffshore renewable-energy trade group, statement issued by its policy executive
In a statement from Sam Salustro, its senior vice president of policy and market affairs, Oceantic Network calls the planned $765 million Invenergy buyout an unlawful misuse of taxpayer dollars and says the administration's actions threaten American jobs and energy affordability.
“The administration’s plan to pay Invenergy $765 million to walk away from legally executed offshore wind leases is an unlawful misuse of taxpayer dollars and the latest tactic to derail domestic energy development while energy prices soar.”
Official statement
Where this statement fits
Did the Interior Department's offshore wind lease-cancellation payments comply with the Judgment Fund Act?
Beginning in March 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced a series of agreements paying offshore wind developers TotalEnergies, Invenergy, and Bluepoint Wind a combined total of more than $2.3 billion to cancel seven offshore wind leases and redirect the money into oil, gas, and other conventional energy projects. Interior and the Department of Justice have said the payments were reviewed and approved settlements and dollar-for-dollar refunds that no company was forced to accept. Seven state attorneys general sued in June 2026; joined by an eighth, Delaware, and separately by California, they filed four federal lawsuits between June and September 2026 arguing the payments violate the Judgment Fund Act, 31 U.S.C. 1304, because no actual or imminent litigation existed to settle and because compensation for a canceled lease is otherwise available under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Members of Congress, including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Rep. Deborah Ross, sent separate oversight letters demanding records on the legal basis for the payments. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne has said the payment returns money the company itself gave the Treasury in 2022, a characterization Interior Secretary Doug Burgum echoed by calling it an "interest-free loan" being repaid.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
The trade group calls the payment unlawful and criticizes the cancellation's costs. Its legal and economic assessments are attributed claims.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The response follows Interior's June 17 announcement covering four Invenergy leases.
After the quotation
Oceantic, a member network for the offshore renewable energy industry, goes on to estimate the economic output and construction jobs lost when a single offshore wind project is canceled.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to whether the payments complied with the Judgment Fund Act, Oceantic calls the planned $765 million payment to Invenergy an unlawful misuse of taxpayer dollars. It names no statute, but it rejects the legality of the payment itself, so condemns fits.
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The Dispute Index. "Oceantic calls the Invenergy payment an unlawful use of taxpayer money". First published: 2026-10-27. Last updated: 2026-10-27. https://disputeindex.com/events/6965-in-a-statement-from-sam-salustro-its-senior