Trump Drops $1B to Kill 2 Wind Farms, Then Watches a Bigger One Go Online

Key Points:

• The Department of the Interior has paid French energy company TotalEnergies to abandon two offshore wind projects off New York and North Carolina, redirecting investment toward oil and gas instead, marking a new strategy by the Trump administration to slow offshore wind growth.
• Despite this setback, the largest U.S. offshore wind farm, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW), began delivering power to the grid on schedule, signaling ongoing progress in the industry.
• CVOW, a 2.6-gigawatt project with 176 turbines, is expected to power up to 660,000 homes and save $3 billion in fuel costs over its first decade, addressing rising electricity demand and high utility costs in Virginia and the Carolinas.
• The Trump administration’s new approach favors financial incentives and deals over regulatory opposition, as seen in the TotalEnergies payout, aiming to bolster fossil fuel production at the expense of renewable energy development.
• Despite efforts to derail offshore wind projects citing national security risks, legal challenges have allowed projects like CVOW to proceed, indicating the industry’s resilience and growing momentum in the U.S. energy landscape.