January 23, 2025 — One of President Trump’s first executive orders halted all new federal leases and permits for offshore wind projects.
Hampton Roads has bet big on the offshore wind industry.
Dominion Energy is building the nation’s largest offshore wind farm 27 miles off the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, and has two more leases waiting in the wings.
Local economic development officials have also worked hard to attract related businesses to make southeastern Virginia an offshore wind hub, including a South Korean manufacturer of undersea electrical cables.
President Donald Trump’s administration now threatens to put up a roadblock to further growing Virginia’s industry.
“We are going to have a policy where no windmills are being built,” Trump said recently.
On his first day in office this week, Trump signed an executive order that temporarily halts all new federal leases and permits for wind energy.