By Greg Smith, Day Staff Writer

December 07, 2024 2:00 pm • Last Updated: December 09, 2024 1:37 am

 

In September, President Joe Biden touted his record on clean energy and announced federal approval of the nation’s 10th offshore wind project. Collectively, the projects will have enough wind power to light up 5.25 million homes.

In contrast, President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign said he planned to use an executive order and scrap offshore wind “on day one.”

Whether Trump’s administration plans to stymie growth of the nascent industry in the U.S. has some clean-energy proponents worried and offshore wind skeptics excited.

Immediately after Trump’s victory was announced, shares in European renewable energy companies dropped sharply, including for Danish offshore wind giant Ørsted.

In New London, the massive components of Ørsted ’s Revolution Wind project sit lined up on State Pier in preparation for shipment to Revolution Wind, the offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island.

State Pier was rehabbed to the tune of more than $300 million primarily to accommodate the offshore wind industry’s needs. Connecticut Port Authority Board Chairman Paul Whitescarver said he still expects activity at the pier at least through Ørsted ’s 10-year lease, which ends in 2033, and likely longer despite anti-wind rhetoric from Trump.

Whitescarver said he thinks there is too much momentum, too many jobs at stake and a real need for alternative energy sources in the U.S. for Trump to completely shut down offshore wind. State Pier, he said, will be busy until at least 2028 because of both Revolution Wind and Ørsted ’s next project, Sunrise Wind. Revolution Wind is under construction, and Sunrise Wind is federally permitted.

“With the amount of energy you need in this country, offshore wind has got to be part of the portfolio going forward,” Whitescarver said. “With that said, I think that smart people will come into the administration and have that as part of the portfolio and not say “We’re just not doing this anymore.”

A spokesman for Ørsted did not comment directly on Trump’s election or the future of the industry in the U.S. but said work continues on Revolution Wind, the first offshore wind farm to produce power for Connecticut, and work has already started in Sunrise Wind.

Whitescarver said it’s hard to predict with Trump, but perhaps approvals for new offshore wind farms might come at a slower rate and maybe there will be fewer subsidies for offshore wind.

“There is a sense out there that offshore wind is not something that Trump will promote. But I don’t think he’s going to blow it out of the water.”

Crucial cabinet picks

Trump has picked Chris Wright, the CEO of Denver-based fracking company Liberty Energy, to be the next Secretary of Energy. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is Trump’s pick for Secretary of the Interior ― the agency responsible for approving new offshore wind farms ― and to lead a new Council of National Energy. The Department of Energy oversees the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which plays a critical role in approving leases for offshore wind farms.

Whitescarver said Burgum has championed renewable energy in his state.

“I don’t think he’s anti-wind,” Whitescarver said of Burgum.

Gordon Videll, the CEO of New London-based Sea Services North America, said his newly formed company has been contemplating the impact a Trump administration might have on his company.

Sea Services trains and outfits commercial fishermen ― a group historically in opposition to offshore wind ― to provide security and safety work in conjunction with the offshore wind projects. The company to date has secured $15 million in supplemental income for the fishermen, Videll said.

“We’ve been thinking about it’s going to affect us. The (offshore wind) projects currently funded and approved seem to be going forward. We will be busy for some period of time,” Videll said. “Any reprioritization of wind may delay things, especially in the mid-Atlantic.”

Videll said there has been a lot of money committed and “I don’t see that it’s going to stop. We’re working on bids for the next couple of years.”

Even if Trump leans heavily against offshore wind, Videll said Trump’s time in the White House is limited. Between the survey and development phases, along with permitting and construction, “four years is not a huge amount of time in the cycle of offshore wind development.”

Videll and Whitescarver are both members of the board of directors of the Connecticut Wind Collaborative, a group formed to gather resources to “support the growth, attract investment and talent, and foster innovation across Connecticut and throughout New England.”

The Connecticut Wind Collaborative is partially funded by Ørsted and Eversource, who contributed $577,500 from Ørsted and Eversource, who contributed money to fund workforce and supply chain development related to Revolution Wind.

Connecticut Wind Collaborative Executive Director Kristin Urbach, in a detailed written response to a list of questions, said there are 41 offshore wind projects now operating with financial mechanisms secured, leased or proposed on the East, West and Gulf coasts.

“We recognize that administrations can influence the number of lease sales, streamline the permitting process and can make additional federal lands open for exploration of development,” Urbach said.

“A vocal anti-wind agenda could create uncertainties in the regulatory environment, especially if it leads to delays in approvals or creates friction within local communities,” she said. “However, the broad support for green energy, job creation, and the environmental benefit of offshore wind remains a strong counterforce to this opposition.”

Urbach said the state remains committed to expanding its offshore wind power capacity and continues to work with developers.

Julia Bergman, a spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont, said Lamont believes offshore wind remains a key part of Connecticut’s clean energy future and is an economic driver that creates jobs.

“State Pier is key to Connecticut’s offshore wind future, and its ability to accommodate a wide variety of cargoes in the future when not being used by the offshore wind industry will help support the state’s maritime economy and ensure its long-term growth and prosperity,” Bergman said.

Offshore wind opponents optimistic

There are still plenty of groups fighting the establishment of offshore wind farms who are looking for support from the incoming Trump administration.

“We’re very cautiously optimistic. Regardless of how any of us feel about Trump, his victory gave us a boost and some hope that the government might stop some of these projects,” said Bill Thompson, co-founder of Green Oceans, the Rhode Island-based nonprofit that has filed suit against the Department of the Interior in an attempt to stop construction of Ørsted Revolution Wind.

Thompson, who refers to offshore wind farms as an industrialization of the oceans, said anyone who thinks that permitted projects cannot be stopped need only look at Biden’s shutdown of the Keystone Pipeline ― the center of a prolonged environmental battle ― on his first day in office in 2021.

In a recent op-ed in the Providence Journal, Thompson and fellow Green Oceans co-founder Elizabeth Quattrocki Knight argued offshore wind has been sold under false pretenses with exaggerated claims.

“Every day they pile-drive more massive foundations, run more diesel-fueled vessels, and create more deafening acoustic disturbances is another day they pollute our waters, contaminate our seafood, harm the fragile ocean ecosystem, and threaten the survival of more whales, dolphins an sea turtles,” the column reads.

Thompson said federal agencies “have been rolling out the red carpet” for offshore wind companies and foreign wind companies have been spreading money around to sway public opinion. The Trump administration, Thompson said, might decide to not only take a harder look at the permitting process but also could opt to rescind tax credits that have helped save some of the recent projects in jeopardy because of rising costs.

“All of these projects are on shaky ground. They were not in a really strong position even when Biden was in office. That could deal them a serious blow,” Thompson said.

“For sure it’s an uphill battle, and we’re definitely the underdog in this fight, but we’ve seen a sea change in terms of public opinion,” Thompson said.

Part of what gave the public pause was a broken blade in July from one of the turbines at Vineyard Wind, which spread floating debris and closed nearby beaches because of concerns of fiberglass shards. Vineyard Wind, which is still under construction, is a 63-turbine wind farm 15 miles south of Nantucket.

“People are seeing the reality and the transformation of our coastal waters. It’s more offensive than people imagined,” Thompson said.

Last month, following Trump’s win, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey spoke at an offshore wind forum at IBEW Local 223’s training facility in Taunton, Mass., where she vowed to push forward with offshore wind initiatives.

Paul Diego Craney, a spokesperson for the Mass. Fiscal Alliance, said in a statement, that “stopping the offshore wind projects is a good development for ratepayers, and those of us who care about the environment.”

“Offshore is among the most expensive electricity generation in the world, and if the New England energy grid becomes dependent on offshore wind, it will result in extremely high prices and rolling blackouts,“ he said. ”Offshore wind comes at a very significant environmental cost, as we’ve seen with the turbine failure that happened off the shores of Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod. The residents and the environment are still finding turbine material on a daily basis and its now making its way into our food supply.”

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