President Donald Trump’s war on offshore wind power is clobbering New England, and officials there are warning of future grid reliability problems. In this new energy reality, though, many states in the region say they will try their best to muddle through.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has stunned states and industry alike with a whirlwind of actions, highlighted by halting a nearly complete project off Rhode Island’s coast — Revolution Wind — and seeking to revoke a permit for a Massachusetts project. Other crucial projects in the region have been caught up in a temporary pause on leases.
In a recent Cabinet meeting, Trump reiterated his hatred of wind. “We’re not allowing any windmills to go up,” he said. “They’re ruining our country.”
States like Maine have been watching all this with dread.
“As our regional grid operator recently reaffirmed, the offshore wind projects under development are critical to the near-term reliability of the regional electric system,” said Dan Burgess, director of the energy office for Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D), in a statement.
The sites in jeopardy, four in all, are located in the Gulf of Maine off the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts, an area of the ocean known for high sustained winds and deep water.
They would likely be developed using floating turbines due to the depth and hold the potential to power 2.3 million homes in New England — more than competing energy projects in the area. Two companies, Avangrid and Invenergy, secured the lease areas for future development.
Today, the four sites in Maine are just leases for planned future development. The state did not anticipate any Gulf of Maine offshore wind to go into construction and operation before 2030, according to its offshore wind road map.
Now, however, the pause has the permitting process for the sites stuck in limbo, potentially pushing building even further away if the administration doesn’t ax them altogether. That’s a problem, given the state’s statutory goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2040.
In a statement, Invenergy said that it “is focused on meeting obligations required by each of its leases, including the development of Tribal, Fisheries, and Agency Communications Plans, in collaboration with Tribes and interested stakeholders.”
Seeking alternatives
In April, the administration halted nearly $16 million in research for the University of Maine, which was weeks away from launching a floating turbine prototype. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) has railed against that freeze while also imploring the administration to allow the Gulf of Maine projects to proceed.
“What we were proposing — and are proposing — is a test array to try to resolve some of the questions: Will it affect fishing? Will it affect lobstering? Will it affect whales?” King said of the research. “That’s what’s unfortunate about the slowing down of this project is that it blocks our ability to gather data.”
Maine and Massachusetts are still hopeful that the leases will go forward into development and see a sizable share of energy demand.
If not, however, the New England states would need to quickly pivot to another energy source or rapidly scale up infrastructure to boost output from its existing sources like nuclear, natural gas or other renewables — a tall order given local laws mandating clean energy paired with an unpredictable market.
Both Maine and Massachusetts are now looking into getting electricity from planned offshore wind projects in Canada. “Maine is engaged in regional coordination with New England and Canadian partners to advance shared energy goals,” said a spokesperson in the Maine governor’s energy office.
“We’re closely tracking the development of offshore wind in Canada and considering how regional efforts may deliver reliable, affordable power, modern infrastructure, and broad economic benefits for Maine.”
Maine Gov. Mills has long been a cheerleader for offshore wind off her state’s large coastline. The governor’s energy office, which is leading the state’s efforts on offshore wind development, told POLITICO’s E&E News that the state is committed to developing leases off its coasts but that losing them would be a big problem.
“Offshore wind is one of several important resources that can help meet Maine’s long-term energy needs as part of a diverse and affordable energy mix,” said Burgess, the director of the office.
“With offshore wind leases in the Gulf of Maine remaining in place, and although current market conditions are challenging, Maine continues to support responsible offshore wind research for future opportunities,” he added.
States made ‘big bet’ on wind
Massachusetts, too, is plowing forward with current wind developments but has canceled new offshore wind procurements, or ventures, in 2025 driven mainly by the Trump administration’s actions. Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, and her predecessor, Republican Charlie Baker, have pushed offshore wind development in the state.
Lauren Diggin, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, said the state was effectively shutting the door on any new offshore wind projects through this year.
“Massachusetts remains committed to an all-of-the-above approach to energy, including offshore wind,” she said. “But due to uncertainty surrounding federal permitting and tax credits in this moment, the state will not conduct an offshore wind procurement in 2025.”
Diggin added that the state would focus on the completion of existing clean power projects like the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and the long-stalled NECEC hydropower line that would bring hydro into New England from Quebec. She added that the state will push faster permitting for energy projects and increased transmission throughout the region.
And although the New England grid is currently stable, energy interests warn that the future could be shakier if offshore wind implodes as a prospect.
“The New England states made a big bet on offshore wind that is clearly challenged with friction and with Washington,” said Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association, a trade group.
“The market is still assuming that Revolution Wind and Vineyard Wind get done in 2026. To the degree that they don’t, we’re going to need to see analysis and assessment from ISO New England on how tight does that make us [and] do we need to take extraordinary actions to fill any holes,” Dolan said, referring to the regional grid operator.
“The friction that exists right now between New England and Washington is making it challenging to see where should developers and investors pour the billions of dollars necessary to build out the network and how durable are those signals,” he said.
‘Risks to reliability’
The regional New England grid operator, ISO New England, has stressed the importance of developing offshore wind for the energy stability of New England.
After the Trump administration issued an immediate stop-work order for Revolution Wind, the 80 percent complete project off the coast of Rhode Island, the grid operator said such moves “increase risks to reliability.” The developer, Ørsted, is suing the administration, joined by Rhode Island and Connecticut.
“Recent heatwaves in New England drove demand for electricity to very high levels and demonstrated that our region needs all generation resources with market obligations to be available to meet demand and maintain required reserves,” the statement said.
“Beyond near-term impacts to reliability in the summer and winter peak periods, delays in the availability of new resources will adversely affect New England’s economy and industrial growth, including potential future data centers,” ISO New England said.
New England draws about half of its energy generation from natural gas, imported from out of state. Nuclear makes up another 30 percent, and renewables and hydropower fill in the rest.
The region, known for its bitterly cold winters, is also heavily reliant on home heating oil from Canada. The reliance has caused uncertainty recently, especially when Trump threatened to slap 10 percent tariffs on all Canadian energy imports.
The states are incentivizing transitions to heat pumps to reduce reliance on home heating oil, but that will eventually place more pressure on the power grid — making new power generation all the more important.
ISO New England’s CEO Gordon van Welie doubled down on the need for increased offshore wind generation at a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission conference in May.
“The region is counting on the entry of resources in the form of large quantities of offshore wind to maintain resource adequacy,” van Welie said.
“Doubts about the ability to build these projects have increased given recent executive orders threatening the federal permitting process and import tariffs increasing the costs of components,” he said. “If these resources are significantly delayed or the projects are terminated, the region would need to assess the impacts and find alternative resources.”
