Wind turbine pieces stood hundreds of feet tall above dozens of trade workers and Connecticut officials Monday, as they spoke out against the Trump administration’s sudden pause of Revolution Wind, an offshore wind farm project. It was poised to soon provide electricity to at least 350,000 homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
“This is a project that our grid operator was counting on to turn on at the end of next year,” Katie Dykes, commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said from the State Pier in New London.
The wind farm is about 80% complete with 45 out of its 65 turbines already installed, according to Ørsted, the Danish company developing Revolution Wind.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is among the Connecticut leaders addressing the Trump administration’s plans to cancel the project. Blumenthal said doing so will only raise electric rates for consumers.
“It is nuts, crazy, insane to stop a project that is 80% completed and will save hundreds of millions of dollars for consumers. In fact, cancelling it will drive electricity prices higher,” Blumenthal said. “The president seems to be canceling these projects simply out of vengeance and vanity.”
Despite the project’s progress and the fact that it cleared years of federal and state reviews, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued the order last week, saying the federal government needs to review the project and “address concerns related to the protection of national security interests of the United States.”
Construction on Revolution Wind began in 2023, and the project was expected to be fully operational next year. Ørsted says it is evaluating the financial impact of stopping construction and is considering legal proceedings.
The environmental impacts of offshore wind
Offshore winds often blow at just the right time: during the evening hours when electric loads are at their peak and during the winter when it’s more difficult to rely on solar energy.
“We have quite a lot of generation from offshore wind just when the sun's going down,” according to Kenneth Gillingham, professor of environmental and energy economics at Yale University.
Gillingham said halting Revolution Wind will mean continued reliance on natural gas, which will lead to more air pollution.
“They're slowing, or ending, a very large installation of renewable energy that would be providing clean, emissions-free, pollution-free electricity to Connecticut,” Gillingham said.
A report last year from DEEP said the state is not on track to meet its emissions reduction target for 2030.
Dykes said stopping the project could cause more rolling blackouts and derail the state from meeting its climate goals.
Charles Rothenberger, a climate and energy attorney with Save the Sound, agrees that not moving forward with the project will push Connecticut even further away from reaching its climate emissions targets.
“It’s clear we’re not going to meet our climate emissions goals without offshore wind,” Rothenberger said. “That’s the most significant source of zero-carbon, renewable energy that we have access to here in the Northeast.”
Opponents of off-shore wind projects praised the administration's decision. The New England Fishmen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) called the construction halt a “major victory for fishermen and marine conservation.”
“For years, fishermen and coastal communities have raised concerns about the disruptive impact of offshore wind farms on marine ecosystems and traditional fishing grounds. This decision reflects the administration’s recognition of those concerns and its dedication to preserving the health of our oceans,” wrote Dustin Delano, NEFSA's chief operating officer.
Workers react
Gregory Schultz is a member of the local iron workers union, which helps rig and handle the turbines. Schultz fears a work stoppage would affect workers as well as the agencies and suppliers that benefit from the project
“Let us finish what we started,” Schultz said. “I don't think anything is to be gained by shutting this one down.”
Keith Brothers with Connecticut Building Trades estimated hundreds of crew workers put millions of hours into the project.
“The onshore crew went back to work Monday,” Brothers said, but the offshore installment was told not to come back for its two week shift.
Frank Papa, one of the onshore union laborers, says he and his fellow workers need to provide for their families.
“That's what we're all here for,” Papa said. “And to see something like this go down now out of the blue, it's kind of disheartening, especially, in the United States here, one man can make a decision.”
What happens next
Blumenthal and Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said the president doesn’t have legal authority to suspend a project that’s permitted and legal, while Gov. Ned Lamont said they plan to get Revolution Wind over the finish line.
“We’re going to sit down and get this done,” Lamont said. “I feel very confident that this is such a dumb decision, it’s going to get fixed.”
But the project’s halt sends a warning message to future investors that could have major repercussions, according to Gillingham.
“They're trying to make the United States an unappealing place to invest is really what they're doing,” Gillingham said. “Because offshore wind projects take so long to site and plan, they want the threat of this happening to future companies to deter any investment in offshore wind, not just today, but in the next 10 years.”
Áine Pennello is a Report for America corps member who covers the environment and climate change for Connecticut Public.
