Energy Secretary Chris Wright was thrust into the uncomfortable position of defending the Trump administration’s decision to save a New York offshore wind project that it had pushed to the brink of collapse.
Wright was pressed about the rationale for lifting a stop-work order on Empire Wind 1 during an interview Monday with Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum. The Energy secretary is an unlikely defender of the decision. A former oil executive, he has repeatedly criticized wind and solar as electricity sources since taking over the department. He also has limited authority over offshore wind development, which is located almost exclusively in federal waters and is regulated by the Interior Department.
Yet his comments offer the most detailed explanation to date about the administration’s move to reverse the order that had halted construction on the project in mid-April.
“The global record of offshore wind has been a train wreck. It’s just been very expensive electricity and intermittent electricity has driven prices up. But Empire Wind’s a trickier issue because it’s well under construction and billions have already been spent. So it’s tricky what to do with midstream projects,” Wright said. “More important for New York by far is to build the Constitution and the NESE [Northeast Energy Supply Enhancement] pipelines that can bring lower cost, cleaner energy to New Yorkers, lower the cost of home heating, lower the cost of electricity.”
