Six companies bid $4.4 billion to develop wind farms acres off the coasts of New Jersey and New York, the U.S. Department of the Interior said Friday.

Interior officials said the sale for more than 488,000 acres in the New York Bight brought in more money than any other energy leases ever, including those for oil and gas. The leases were part of President Joe Biden’s goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.

When fully developed, the offshore wind farms could power almost 2 million homes, officials said.

“This week’s offshore wind sale makes one thing clear: the enthusiasm for the clean energy economy is undeniable and it’s here to stay,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said.

The six provisional winners and their bids were:

• OW Ocean Winds East LLC, 71,522 acres, $765 million
• Attentive Energy LLC, 84,332 acres, $795 million
• Bight Wind Holdings LLC, 125,964 acres, $1.1 billion
• Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Bight LLC, 79,351 acres, $780 million
• Invenergy Wind Offshore LLC, 83,976 acres, $645 million
• Mid-Atlantic Offshore Wind LLC, 43,056 acres, $285 million

Before the leases are awarded, the auction will be reviewed by the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission.

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