Transportation Secretary Terminates Wind Projects Worth $679 Million

‘Wasteful wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,’ Sean Duffy said.

Wind turbines in a field in Beulah, N.D., on Dec. 22, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy withdrew or terminated 12 offshore wind projects across the country that are worth $679 million in funding, according to an Aug. 29 statement by the Department of Transportation (DOT).

The latest announcement is part of a series of actions that the Trump administration has taken to limit the expansion of energy sources such as wind and solar.

“Wasteful wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” said Duffy, adding that the prior Biden administration promoted such projects, “ignoring the dire needs of our shipbuilding industry.”

Offshore wind farms pose considerable demands on existing port infrastructure for staging, assembly, and maintenance. Existing port capabilities and resources are diverted from offering conventional services such as shipping, container, and fishing facilities toward servicing wind turbines, according to a report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Besides endangering marine mammals while developing large-scale offshore wind farms, shipping lanes are sometimes diverted to make way for wind turbines, leading to increased fuel costs as vessels take alternate routes to and from ports.

The DOT will work with its Maritime Administration to recompete funding from the wind farm projects toward addressing critical port upgrades and other core infrastructure needs of the United States, according to the statement.

According to the DOT’s review, 12 offshore wind projects have been identified as not meeting the necessary obligations required for the renewal of grant programs.

The withdrawn projects are Sparrows Point Steel Marshalling Port Project in Baltimore; Bridgeport Port Authority Operations and Maintenance Wind Port Project; Wind Port at Paulsboro; Arthur Kill Terminal; Gateway Upgrades for Access, Resiliency and Development at the Port of Davisville Project; Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port; and Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind, which alone accounted for more than $426 million.

The terminated projects are Redwood Marine Terminal Project Planning; Salem Wind Port Project; Lake Erie Renewable Energy Resilience Project; Radio Island Rail Improvements; and PMT Offshore Wind Development.

Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said in an Aug. 29 statement the latest DOT move to withdraw funds from wind projects would lead to “energy cost hikes for working families” and loss of “thousands of union jobs nationwide.”

Over the past few days, the Trump administration has moved to cancel multibillion-dollar offshore wind projects in Maryland and Rhode Island.

The Department of the Interior is “in the process of reconsidering its prior approval” of an $11.5 billion offshore wind farm planned off the coast of Maryland, which was issued in the final days of the Biden administration, according to an Aug. 25 court filing.

The project included 114 wind turbines, four offshore substations, and other supporting infrastructure that would have an expected capacity of more than 2 gigawatts, enough to power more than 718,000 homes and support about 2,700 jobs each year, over seven years of development.

Ocean City, Maryland, Mayor Rick Meehan said the project threatened to devastate the local tourism industry and fishing sectors while posing risks to national defense.

“It could lead to the deaths of hundreds of marine mammals, including the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale—all so that an Italian company can receive subsidies from the State of Maryland to produce unreliable and expensive electricity,” he said.

On Aug. 22, the Trump administration moved to halt all construction on an offshore wind farm off Rhode Island, which was nearing completion, citing “the protection of national security interests.”

The project, Revolution Wind, is a $1.5 billion project that was expected to produce enough electricity to power 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

The Sierra Club, an advocate for energy sources such as wind and solar, criticized the move.

“The Trump administration’s effort to kneecap Revolution Wind right as it nears the finish line is a threat to local jobs, lower energy costs, and the stronger, more reliable grid we are so close to actualizing. Offshore wind is key to lower energy bills, cleaner air, and good-paying jobs for our neighbors here in Connecticut and across New England,” the Sierra Club said in a statement.

The administration’s actions stem from President Donald Trump’s executive order issued in July to eliminate subsidies for unreliable energy sources such as wind and solar in furtherance of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Trump said in the order that energy sources such as wind and solar “displace affordable, dispatchable energy, compromise America’s electric grid, and denigrate the beauty of our Nation’s natural landscape.” Reliance on such energy sources also “threatens national security by making the United States dependent on supply chains controlled by foreign adversaries,” he said.