America’s largest offshore wind project is sailing ahead, but the Virginia gubernatorial election could create new obstacles.
Abigail Spanberger, a former Democratic congresswoman, enters Tuesday contest as the strong favorite against Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican. Normally, that could be good news for a project like Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, the $11.2 billion development being built by Richmond-based Dominion Energy. Spanberger is an offshore wind supporter.
But at a time when President Donald Trump is taking aim at offshore wind projects along the East Coast, the prospect of a renewable energy-loving Democrat taking over in Richmond has some in the wind industry and on Wall Street on edge. Glenn Youngkin, the outgoing Republican governor, has been supportive of the project.
Many in the wind industry believe it isn’t a coincidence that a project in a Republican-led state has avoided Trump’s attention, even as two other projects in states run by Democrats have been temporarily halted by the president’s administration.
