Democrats Say the Wind Development Ban Won’t Affect Projects in Progress. The Reality is Less Clear.
A month after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to restrict — and in some cases, entirely halt — wind energy development in the United States, renewable energy advocates are still reeling.
In addition to a moratorium on any new offshore wind leases, the executive order mandates a review of existing wind leases to decide the “ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending” them.
The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which manages offshore wind, haven’t announced any such decisions yet. But lawmakers say the order has already changed the landscape for existing projects, and some are worried it could be devastating for energy and the economies of their districts.
“This isn’t just about offshore wind, it’s about making it harder for investors to build new energy generation and transmission infrastructure,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss told NOTUS. “This type of behavior where you pick losers is detrimental to America’s energy dominance.”
Auchincloss, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said he’s seen some of the adverse effects of Trump’s offshore wind stances in his district. Right before Trump took office, the developer Prysmian pulled out of plans to build a plant that would have manufactured cables for offshore wind turbines. Prysmian decided to end the project before the Trump executive order, but Auchincloss said the company “knew it was coming,” prompting its exit.
The order also disrupted other offshore wind progress around the country. The energy company EDP Renewable, whose subsidiaries hold multiple active offshore wind leases, said its North American portfolio saw a $260 million drop in value after the executive order. In New Jersey, the state board of public utilities canceled an upcoming round of bidding for more wind development in the state, citing “uncertainty driven by federal actions and permitting.” And the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has canceled or postponed public meetings about the environmental effects of offshore wind.
“The administration is intentionally injecting uncertainty,” Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine told NOTUS. “The last thing you should be doing is strangling these projects. It’s only going to lead to job loss and higher prices for consumers.”
The risk created by the executive order is likely to prompt other companies to dial back their involvement in offshore wind development, said Robin Kundis Craig of the University of Kansas School of Law, an expert on water rights and offshore leasing.
“I don’t think this is a moment when a lot of people would be wanting to jump into million- and billion-dollar offshore projects wholeheartedly,” Craig told NOTUS.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management lists 41 active or consolidated offshore wind lease areas on its website. Several projects are still in development stages.
The Department of the Interior and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management did not respond to an inquiry from NOTUS about what criteria are being used to determine whether an ongoing project should be recommended for amendments or termination as specified in the executive order.
“The Department of the Interior is currently conducting an internal review of the reports submitted to the Secretary,” an Interior spokesperson said in a statement. “At this stage, we are assessing these reports to determine if any further action is warranted, and we remain dedicated to ensuring that all items are thoroughly evaluated as part of our internal management process.”
Some lawmakers are optimistic about the chances for projects that are further along in development. Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, which is expected to deliver 2.6 gigawatts of power to Virginia by the end of 2026, is about halfway finished, with major parts constructed and offshore substations and other pieces delivered to ports.
“We have to be concerned,” Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott told NOTUS of the project’s future. But, he added, “I think we’re far enough along that we don’t expect an adverse impact.”
Rep. Salud Carbajal told NOTUS he’s confident offshore wind development will continue in Morro Bay, a coastal city in his district where there are multiple active offshore leases.
“There’s property rights in America. You buy a lease, you’re entitled to develop what you’ve done,” he said. “Everything’s moving forward that I’m aware of.”
One reason for optimism is legal precedent. The Department of the Interior can unilaterally terminate leases in specific cases, such as if a leaseholder allows their lease to expire or if a project causes harm to people or the environment. But it would be tricky for the government to upend in-progress projects just because they involve offshore wind, Craig said.
“You can’t just willy-nilly walk out and say, ‘Oh, by the way, that lease we granted you last year? Sorry, no longer,’” Craig said. “It would be fairly difficult politically for the administration to make that argument.”
Rhode Island Rep. Seth Magaziner suggested offshore wind development could continue despite the moratorium by using tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act. Funding related to the act was paused in another Trump executive order, but lawmakers and leaders across the U.S. have urged the administration not to entirely nix the law’s clean energy credits.
“We know that the Republicans are going to come after many of the clean energy tax credits in the IRA, but that doesn’t mean that they have to come after all of them,” Magaziner told NOTUS. “There are members who are Republican, members from Virginia, from New York that have districts that benefit from offshore wind, and I hope that they will be allies with us in protecting those tax credits.”
Hillary Bright, the executive director of Turn Forward, a pro-offshore wind nonprofit, said there’s the possibility to cultivate even more wind allies in the future. The Trump administration may come around to offshore wind as the dust settles, she said.
“I realize that may sound insanely optimistic,” Bright said. “We really, truly see offshore wind being able to deliver on, actually, quite a few of the president’s priorities when it comes to restoring American manufacturing.”
By: Shifra Dayak
Source: NOTUS