Saving Seafood

US Wind Offers $20 Million to Local Fishermen under New Proposal

May 15, 2025 — Offshore wind developer US Wind has entered memoranda of understanding with Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) in which the company has proposed $20 million in support to local fishermen.

According to a press release from US Wind, the agreements with the states were developed in response to watermen feedback as US Wind continues to pursue a project off Sussex and Worcester Counties. The Trump Administration’s reversal of a Biden-era push for offshore wind has left the future of the project uncertain.

“This proposal — one of the biggest investments in commercial fishing in the region – demonstrates our commitment to the fishing industry and the local community in which we’ll operate,” said Jeffrey Grybowski, US Wind CEO. “The funding will provide direct support to commercial and charter fishermen, grants for local businesses, and support for harbor maintenance and infrastructure. We’re looking forward to continuing our work with local fishermen and the states of Maryland and Delaware to finalize this unprecedented agreement.”

US Wind says $13.5 million of the $20 million proposal would go to the following in Maryland:

-Grants for fishing businesses in the harbor to continue the offloading of catch and ice services;

-30 years of funding for West Ocean City Harbor maintenance, such as dredging requested each year by the community, dock and shore stabilization

-Substantial money for gear development, marketing of local seafood, fishing business development, and incentives for new commercial fishermen.

Read the full article at WBOC

Equinor says it could cancel New York offshore wind project over Trump order

May 13, 2025 — The developer of a major U.S. offshore wind project warned that it will cancel the Empire Wind facility off the coast of New York if it cannot in the coming days reach a resolution over a month-old stop-work order issued by the Trump administration.

Molly Morris, president of the U.S. renewable energy arm of Norway’s Equinor, said the company was spending $50 million a week to keep the project afloat.

“The situation is now unsustainable,” Morris said in an interview.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered Equinor to halt construction on the project on April 17, saying information suggested the administration of former President Joe Biden may have approved it without a thorough environmental analysis.

Read the full article at Reuters

Trump administration strikes hard at offshore wind

May 12, 2025 — The U.S. offshore wind industry was rocked less than 100 days into the new Trump administration, with aggressive moves by the White House to shut down Equinor’s Empire Wind project off New York and ongoing political pressure on Trump officials to do even more.

“Approval for the project was rushed through by the prior administration without sufficient analysis or consultation among the relevant agencies as relates to the potential effects from the project,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote in an April 16 memo directing the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to halt construction activity.

Citing President Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order calling for a broad review of all offshore wind power projects in federal waters, Burgum wrote that the construction halt will remain pending review to “address these serious deficiencies.”

Read the full article at Workboat

California and 17 other states sue Trump administration over wind energy projects

May 9, 2025 — California and 17 other state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit attempting to stop the Trump administration’s efforts to thwart the development of wind energy projects.

The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts comes in response to a Jan. 20 executive order by President Donald Trump that issued a temporary withdrawal of all areas on the outer Continental Shelf from offshore wind leasing.

The directive also called for a review of leasing and permitting for all wind energy projects across the country, alleging they “may lead to grave harm” that includes “negative impacts on navigational safety interests, transportation interests, national security interests, commercial interests, and marine mammals.”

The 101-page lawsuit from states led by Democrats says the executive order is unlawful and creates “an existential threat to the wind industry.”

Read the full story at The Mercury News

Trump Faces Challenge to Offshore Wind Directive

May 8, 2025 — New Jersey is one of nearly two dozen states plus the District of Columbia to sue the federal government over President Donald J. Trump’s executive order halting approvals of wind energy development.

“It is deeply disappointing that the Trump administration is illegally attempting to block our state from developing new sources of power through their across-the-broad freeze on wind energy,” state Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.

With the stroke of his pen, Trump temporarily withdrew offshore wind leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf and implemented a review of the federal government’s leasing and permitting practices for wind energy on Jan. 20, the same day he declared a national energy emergency.

The order went into effect Jan. 21 and will remain in place unless it is repealed. The rights of existing leases in the withdrawn areas are not impacted by the withdrawal, under the memorandum.

Read the full story at The SandPaper

Supreme Court declines to hear challenges to Vineyard Wind

May 7, 2025 — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear two cases challenging the federal approval of Vineyard Wind. The court denied the petitions Monday.

Commercial fishing interests sued the federal agencies involved in approving the wind farm, which is under construction 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

The lawsuits were originally filed in 2021 and 2022.

Read the full story at Maine Public

Tariffs could add $500M to cost of Virginia Beach offshore wind farm, Dominion tells investors

May 7, 2025 — Dominion Energy expects to pay more to complete the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project because of the Trump administration’s new taxes on imported goods including monopile foundations and turbine towers.

The $10.8 billion offshore wind farm about 30 miles off the Virginia Beach coast will be the nation’s largest, consisting of 176 turbines that generate about 2.6 gigawatts of electricity, or enough to power up to 660,000 homes.

Dominion CEO Bob Blue told investors last week that if current tariffs continue through construction of the project late next year, the utility would expect about $500 million in added costs.

“Of course, changes to future tariff policy could affect these estimates,” he said. “It’s difficult to fully assess the impact tariffs may have to the project’s final cost, as actual costs incurred are dependent upon the tariff requirements and rates, if any, at the time of delivery of the specific component.”

Read the full story at the Virginia Mercury

Supreme Court rejects 2 challenges to Vineyard Wind

May 6, 2025 — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied petitions from the fishing industry and a conservative think tank challenging the Vineyard Wind project, rejecting their March requests that the country’s highest court hear their cases.

A fishing industry lobbying group, Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), sued the lead government regulator of offshore wind in early 2022, alleging that by approving Vineyard Wind, the agency had violated several acts, including those protecting existing ocean users and endangered species. The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), which represents fishermen and a fishing company in Rhode Island in another lawsuit, had also petitioned the Supreme Court.

RODA had already lost its case in two other courts: first, in 2023 in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, where a judge sided with the project and regulators; and second, in 2024 in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, where the judge upheld the lower court’s decision. TPPF also had its case dismissed by the lower courts.

“We are disappointed that the Supreme Court denied our petition,” said Lane Johnston, executive director of RODA, in an email Monday. “This issue is of such importance to members of the commercial fishing industry. RODA will continue our efforts to combat the destructive industrialization of the nation’s marine resources.”

Read the full story at The New Bedford Light

States sue Trump administration for blocking the development of wind energy

May 6, 2025 — A coalition of state attorneys general filed a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump’s attempt to stop the development of wind energy.

Attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., are challenging an executive order Trump signed during his first day in office, pausing approvals, permits and loans for all wind energy projects both onshore and offshore. They say Trump doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally shut down the permitting process, and he’s jeopardizing development of a power source critical to the states’ economic vitality, energy mix, public health and climate goals.

They’re asking a federal judge to declare the order unlawful and stop federal agencies from implementing it.

“This arbitrary and unnecessary directive threatens the loss of thousands of good-paying jobs and billions in investments, and it is delaying our transition away from the fossil fuels that harm our health and our planet,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the coalition, said in a statement.

Read the full story at AP News

Supreme Court declines Vineyard Wind challenge

May 5, 2025 — The Supreme Court has declined to reconsider the Biden administration’s approval of a major offshore wind project off the Massachusetts coast, in a reprieve for an industry facing rising political headwinds.

On Monday morning, the justices denied the parallel petitions led by the fishing company Seafreeze Shoreside and the fishing industry trade group Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) challenging agencies’ approvals for the Vineyard Wind 1 project.

The 62-turbine wind farm is under construction 15 miles off the coast of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard and is expected to be completed this year. Vineyard Wind’s joint developers Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners declined through their attorney to comment on the Supreme Court’s decision.

Read the full story at E&E News