By Collister Johnson, CFACT | April 14, 2025
President Trump is clear about offshore wind. On day one of his second term, he signed an executive order titled “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects.”
The order mandated three outcomes: First, it withdrew all the waters within the Outer Continental Shelf from consideration for wind leasing. Second, it ordered a “comprehensive review” of the purpose and need for offshore wind to determine whether existing leases should be “amended or terminated.” Third, it ordered that relevant federal agencies “shall not issue new or renewed approvals of offshore wind projects pending a completion of a comprehensive review of federal wind leasing and permitting practices.”
The call for such an all-encompassing re-examination of the purpose, need, and utility of offshore wind (OSW) would cause developers to pause their development plans.
No such luck. The message to Trump appears to be: “Go pound sand.”
In New Jersey, the developers of Atlantic Shores Wind proclaimed, “Atlantic Shores intends to continue progressing New Jersey’s first offshore wind project in compliance with our local, state and federal partners under existing leases and relevant permits.”
In Virginia, Dominion Energy “is determined to defend its offshore wind project in face of Trump threats.” Company executives said in an earnings call that “the 2.6 gigawatt Virginia wind project is on schedule to begin operating in 2026 despite a flurry of actions by the Trump administration against the wind industry.”
In New York, Orsted CEO Rasmus Errboe said, “We are fully committed to moving forward and delivering on our commitments. We do not expect that the executive order will have any implications on assets under construction.”
In New England, the Alliance for Climate Transition boasted that “Trump can’t likely touch permitted wind projects in New England.”
Despite all their bravado, wind developers should be mindful of serious obstacles coming their way.
First, the Department of Interior has clear, unquestionable authority to order a pause in construction for underway wind projects. Every wind developer is bound by the terms of its Construction and Operations Plan (COP) — a contract they entered into with the Department of Interior, which governs all the terms, conditions, and timing of constructions within the OSW project. Every COP states that “the Department of Interior reserves the right to amend these conditions or impose additional conditions authorized by law.”
This authority was used by the interior to halt construction on the Vineyard Wind project after it experienced a cataclysmic wind turbine failure that spread acres of debris into the waters off Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket last summer. An order pausing construction in East Coast wind projects, pending completion of the studies mandated by the order, lies perfectly within the contractually binding language of the COPs.
OSW developers have another problem. His name is Jefferson Van Drew, a Republican congressman from New Jersey. Van Drew was likely instrumental in crafting the language in the presidential order. He understands the absurdity of offshore wind and is adamantly opposed to further OSW construction until a comprehensive re-examination of its purpose and need has been completed. He is a tenacious, anti-offshore wind bulldog who has the ear of the president.
If wind developers send ships to sea on May 1, as some have said they would do to resume their construction plans, it is unlikely Van Drew will sit by and let them start “clanging and banging” in the whale habitat without a fight.
There are many reasons the offshore wind industry should be hesitant to resume business as usual. However, none is bigger than this: Does the offshore wind industry really think it is a good idea to thumb its nose at President Trump in opposition to an order that is clearly near and dear to his heart? Do they really like playing Russian roulette with billions at stake? Various Cabinet secretaries, heads of federal agencies, and political opponents have all tried this approach in the past.
It didn’t end well for them.
This article originally appeared at DC Journal
Johnson has spent the last four decades working in the public and private sectors in Virginia, primarily in the fields of project finance and maritime transportation.
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