Trump administration halts work on an offshore wind farm : NPR

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Seth Wenig/AP The Trump administration has ordered corporations to cease development of a wind farm that is being constructed off the coast of Rhode Island.

The performing director of the Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration, Matthew Giacona, wrote in a letter to one of many builders, a Danish agency referred to as Ørsted, that the federal government was halting work on the almost-finished undertaking to be able to "handle issues associated to the safety of nationwide safety pursuits of the US." The undertaking can also be being developed by World Infrastructure Companions.

The order to cease work on the Revolution Wind undertaking is the most recent transfer by the Trump administration concentrating on the nation's renewable power trade. President Trump, a longtime critic of the wind trade, in January issued a moratorium on new growth of offshore wind tasks. The Inside Income Service lately put out new steerage that makes it tougher for corporations constructing wind and photo voltaic tasks to qualify for federal tax incentives. And the Commerce Division is investigating whether or not imports of wind generators and their elements threaten nationwide safety.

Ørsted mentioned in an announcement that it's "evaluating all choices to resolve the matter expeditiously," together with authorized motion.

Revolution Wind is positioned in federal waters 15 miles south of Rhode Island. Development began in 2023, and the undertaking has been slated to start sending energy to properties and companies in Rhode Island and Connecticut beginning subsequent yr.

"Any pause or uncertainty at this stage may ripple throughout jobs, contracts, and communities already benefiting from the undertaking," Erik Milito, president of the Nationwide Ocean Industries Affiliation, a commerce group whose members embody wind undertaking builders in addition to oil and gasoline corporations, mentioned in an announcement.

"In the present day, the U.S. has just one absolutely operational large-scale offshore wind undertaking producing energy," Milito mentioned. "That's not sufficient to satisfy America's rising power wants. We want extra power of all sorts, together with oil and gasoline, wind, and new and rising applied sciences."

The Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration did not reply to messages in search of remark.

Trade analysts have mentioned that limiting renewable power growth amid rising electrical energy demand threatens to drive up energy costs throughout the nation.

"This isn't the primary time excessive partisan politics has derailed sound power coverage," Jason Grumet, chief government of American Clear Energy, an trade group, mentioned in an announcement responding to the Trump administration's stop-work order to Revolution Wind. "The unlucky message to buyers is evident: the U.S. is not a dependable place for long-term power investments."

In April, the Inside Division halted work on an offshore wind undertaking close to the coast of Lengthy Island. Inside Secretary Doug Burgum wrote in a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration on the time that approval of the undertaking, referred to as Empire Wind, "was rushed by means of by the prior administration with out enough evaluation."

Development on Empire Wind resumed in Might when the Trump administration lifted the stop-work order. However the disruption was pricey for the undertaking's developer, a Norwegian firm referred to as Equinor. The agency lately lower the worth of its funding by nearly $1 billion, primarily due to "the adjustments in laws for future offshore wind tasks within the U.S.," Torgrim Reitan, Equinor's chief monetary officer, mentioned on an earnings name in July.

"For the second time, the Trump Administration has taken illegal motion towards a completely permitted offshore wind undertaking underneath lively development — this time one that's practically 80% full," Liz Burdock, chief government of the Oceantic Community, an advocacy group for offshore wind, mentioned in an announcement concerning the Revolution Wind undertaking.

"This dramatic motion additional erodes investor confidence within the U.S. market throughout all industries and undermines progress on shared nationwide priorities — shipyard revitalization, metal and port investments, and power dominance," Burdock mentioned. "In actual fact, halting work on Revolution Wind will drive up power prices for customers, idle Gulf Coast vessel operators which have invested a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in new or retrofitted vessels, and jeopardize the livelihoods of union employees."