New England, long burdened with some of the nation’s highest electricity costs, is facing a growing energy crisis.
Winter cold snaps routinely send utility bills soaring in a region where natural gas fuels most of the grid. Offshore wind was seen as the answer — a long-promised relief for the densely populated, power-hungry states.
Instead, the centerpiece project has been halted midstream: Driven by the president’s longstanding distaste for wind turbines, the Trump administration issued a stop-work order on the nearly finished Revolution Wind farm, shuttering construction on an 80%-complete project and injecting panic into a region already anxious about how to keep the lights — and the heat — on in the decades to come.
“New England bet the farm on offshore wind,” said Sam Evans-Brown, executive director of the nonprofit Clean Energy New Hampshire. “I think that people thought it’s going to be much easier to build renewables 40 miles out in the ocean, where you aren’t as likely to bump into a NIMBY.”
Indeed, the not-in-my-backyard crowd has less to complain about when the eyesores in question are barely visible on the horizon. But that didn’t stop anti-wind groups from finding new angles and audiences for their campaign.
New England has been dogged by challenges around energy projects for years. The region is small and lacks the space to build vast land-based solar and wind farms. Its energy infrastructure is also lagging, experts told CNN. It is literally the last stop of the nation’s natural gas pipelines and gets much of its natural gas shipped on ocean tankers.
Wind turbine foundation components are seen at the Revolution Wind construction hub at the Port of Providence in Providence, Rhode Island, on Lune 13, 2024. – Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg/Getty Images/File
The Revolution Wind farm, off the coast of Connecticut, was set to generate enough electricity to power upwards of 350,000 homes starting next year. There are no ready alternatives to replace it quickly, said Katie Dykes, commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.
The Trump Interior Department did not respond to several questions from CNN, citing ongoing litigation around the project.
New England has spent the last several years relying on aged, oil-burning power plants to help keep the lights on during cold winters and AC running during hot summers.
“My fear is that if this project is canceled when the grid is under stress, that’s what we’ll have to continue to rely on,” Dykes said. “Many of those resources are beyond their end of useful life. They need to be allowed to retire, because we just can’t feel totally confident that when they’re called on, that they can actually run.”
New England energy experts say Dykes is correct — there are no other options to backfill the sheer amount of electricity Revolution Wind and other offshore projects were set to add to the regional grid, if Trump continues to block them. Dykes said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is supportive of adding to the region’s natural gas pipelines, but it would take years to permit and build new pipelines that could carry more gas to the region, whereas Revolution Wind was set to start operating next year.
Ahead of the winter season, New England’s grid operator already issued a stark warning about delaying the project.
“Delaying the project will increase risks to reliability,” a statement from regional grid operator ISO New England said in response to the stop work order. The threat to the offshore wind project and other major projects like it “will stifle future investments, increase costs to consumers, and undermine the power grid’s reliability and the region’s economy now and in the future.”
Trump and his cabinet members have repeatedly said offshore wind is the most expensive form of energy. Speaking in Europe recently, Trump Energy Sec. Chris Wright castigated European energy generated from wind farms as too costly.
“We don’t want to be in the race for the most expensive electricity in the world,” Wright said. “We want to be in the race for the most affordable electricity in the world.”
Wind turbine foundation components are seen at the Revolution Wind construction hub at the Port of Providence in Providence, Rhode Island, on June 13, 2024. – Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg/Getty Images/File
Offshore wind projects have high initial costs, in large part because of limited supply chains and high inflation rates that have dogged the entire US economy for several years. But those costs are offset by the inexpensive electricity wind turbines generate. Wind farms also have lower ongoing costs than fossil fuels because wind is free, said Francis Pullaro, president of RENEW Northeast, a clean energy industry association based in New England.
Without wind, homeowners and businesses will see their rates skyrocket. Consumers could see $200 million in annual higher energy market costs starting next year if Revolution Wind does not move forward, the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection estimated in a recent report.
Wind energy is also highly reliable and cheap in the wintertime, benefiting from blustery New England weather, Dykes said.
“Folks have talked about the wind resource in New England as sort of like the Saudi Arabia of wind, if you will,” she said. “Offshore wind has been viewed as a real compliment to help maintain grid reliability during those peak winter periods, as well as contributing during hot summer weather, too.”
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