Wind projects in limbo under Trump Image By EPN staff Key Points The Trump administration terminated onshore and offshore wind projects in multiple states and phased out subsidies, pausing new leasing on federal lands and waters. Large projects canceled or delayed include Lava Ridge (ID), Atlantic Shores (NJ), Revolution Wind (RI/CT), Empire Wind (NY), and projects off Maryland and California. Critics note that while wind is a low-cost energy source per MWh, its intermittency requires costly storage or backup generation, raising long-term affordability concerns for consumers. The Trump Administration has terminated on- and offshore wind projects in a dozen states, as it remains critical of wind, a low energy-density, intermittent energy source. One such project, the 231-turbine Lava Ridge Wind Project, would have spanned nearly 57,447 acres of Bureau of Land Management land. Idaho elected leaders and many of their constituents worried the 660 feet high turbines — twice the height of the Statue of Liberty — would negatively impact historical sites, the environment and the economy. Impacts to the Minidoka National Historic Site, just nine miles from the wind farm, were of particular concern. Other terminated large-scale projects included Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first commercial scale offshore wind project, a floating wind farm in northern California and a large project off the coast of Maryland. Why it matters In addition to canceling permits, the administration has phased out taxpayer subsidies. In January, the president paused leasing and permitting of new wind turbine projects on federal lands and waters. In March, the administration pulled the permit for the Atlantic Shores Off-shore Wind project in New Jersey to assess its environmental impact. In April, the administration paused construction on Empire Wind off the coast of New York Equinor offshore wind project but allowed it to continue after securing a compromise with NY Gov. Kathy Hochul to allow the building of the Constitution Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline. In July, the budget reconciliation bill sped up the timeline for phasing out subsidies for wind projects. In August, the administration canceled Lava Ridge, ordered Orsted to stop working on the Revolution Wind offshore wind project in Rhode Island and Connecticut and announced its intention to revoke the permit for a proposed offshore wind project near Ocean City, MD. The Department of Transportation also canceled $679 million in federal infrastructure projects funding supporting offshore wind projects and withdrew a $716 million loan guarantee for infrastructure supporting a NJ offshore project. The bigger picture As with other energy sources, wind power projects impact the environment. Spent turbines and panels are costly to recycle and end up in landfills. Wind power is considered a low-density energy source since it needs 90 to 100 times more space for production than natural gas researchers have found. U.S. wind turbines also kill up to a half a million birds and bats each year. Additional details Cost of energy sources to consumers can be measured by assessing the Levelized Cost of Energy, a metric that accounts for the total cost of building and operating a power plant over the facility’s lifetime. The metric is expressed as the amount of money spent per unit of electricity per kilowatt-hour (KWh) or megawatt-hour (MWh). Utility scale solar, wind, and natural gas have the lowest price per MWh but when storage is added to wind and solar power, these sources become far more costly to consumers. Because the amount of energy they produce is impacted by weather and time of day, they must be paired with storage and 24-hour producing sources such as fossil fuels, hydro or nuclear power. SUGGESTED STORIES Forecasting the future for wind energy in the plains Oklahoma may be thought of as gas and oil country, but wind blowing across the state’s vast open spaces accounted for roughly 42% of the state’s total power generation in 2022. Only Texas and Iowa ranked ahead of Oklahoma in terms of wind production, and the Sooner state produced 8. Read more Renewable energy projects face new permitting, regulatory oversight Prospective solar, wind and battery storage projects would be subject to permitting and regulatory oversight by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission under a proposal making its way through the state legislature. Why it matters Although new oil and gas projects must get a permi Read more American coal is cleaner than Chinese wind and solar China’s dominance in producing solar panels and wind turbines raises various complex environmental, geopolitical, and socioeconomic concerns. While renewable energy sources like solar and wind are often touted as clean alternatives to fossil fuels, the global reliance on China for t Read more
Forecasting the future for wind energy in the plains Oklahoma may be thought of as gas and oil country, but wind blowing across the state’s vast open spaces accounted for roughly 42% of the state’s total power generation in 2022. Only Texas and Iowa ranked ahead of Oklahoma in terms of wind production, and the Sooner state produced 8. Read more
Renewable energy projects face new permitting, regulatory oversight Prospective solar, wind and battery storage projects would be subject to permitting and regulatory oversight by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission under a proposal making its way through the state legislature. Why it matters Although new oil and gas projects must get a permi Read more
American coal is cleaner than Chinese wind and solar China’s dominance in producing solar panels and wind turbines raises various complex environmental, geopolitical, and socioeconomic concerns. While renewable energy sources like solar and wind are often touted as clean alternatives to fossil fuels, the global reliance on China for t Read more
