Gov. Kathy Hochul learned the Trump administration will pause leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects that are currently under construction in the United States, including Empire Wind 1, during an unrelated news conference at the state Capitol Monday.
“We just learned that the job-killing Trump administration is taking another hit on New York,” Hochul told reporters prior to taking questions before adding, “a little frustrated here, folks.”
The governor described the project as key to New York’s “all of the above” approach to energy as the state acknowledges the need for a wide portfolio of resources if it wants to reduce emissions from fossil fuels while fending off grid reliability concerns and spiking utility rates.
“We’re counting on half a million homes being powered by clean renewable energy from offshore wind next year, ready to launch something that has been anticipated for many years, we were finally about to get over the finish line,” she said of Empire Wind 1.
Hochul said Trump didn’t mention the pause to her in a recent call about two unrelated New York projects, and it was widely speculated that the Trump administration spared the project from being halted earlier this year after discussing a controversial pipeline project that the state Department of Environmental Conservation had turned down multiple times with the governor.
The Trump administration characterized the pause as a national security move, and will give the Interior Department, which oversees offshore wind, time to work with the Defense Department and other agencies to assess the possible ways to mitigate any security risks posed by the projects, the administration said in a statement:
“The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people. Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers. The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people.”
Hochul said she doesn’t buy it.
“Reducing our reliability on foreign energy, like foreign oil, is a step toward our own energy future and that’s why creating our own renewable energy like offshore wind is an important part of our national security,” she said.
Marguerite Wells, executive director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, says that as the state works to manage affordability and reliability through that multi-faceted approach, Empire Wind 1 is key.
“We are genuinely short on energy. That’s driving up costs. We need to bring the fastest lowest cost energy to market as fast as we can and renewable energy is that, offshore wind is wonderful for that,” she said.
Plus, she questioned the Trump administration’s strategy from a broader economic standpoint.
“Regardless of what technologies you prefer, for fully permitted and under construction projects to be stopped in their tracks, it doesn’t say that New York is a safe place to invest dollars in any technology,” she said.
Republican opponents of the state’s 2019 climate law have long argued that wind and solar are weak links in the state’s energy portfolio and aren’t capable of holding the degree of weight the state is assigning them in its climate policy, though New York’s most recent draft energy plan released last week acknowledged longstanding challenges with off shore wind.
Meanwhile Hochul expressed frustration that the move would impact workers just before Christmas, and Climate Jobs NY and the New York State Building and Construction Trades likewise both slammed the move.
“This decision is a massive layoff for union workers just before the holidays,” Climate Jobs NY Executive Director Esther Rosario said in a statement. “Thousands of skilled union workers were on the job building critical energy infrastructure, and now their jobs are being put at risk. These projects will deliver affordable, clean energy and support working families across New York State.”
A spokesperson for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority told Spectrum News 1 they are reviewing potential impacts of the stop work order.
“It is well known these projects underwent extensive and robust federal reviews, including working with the Department of Defense, and have received all state and federal permits – including Empire Wind 1 securing the lease for the project site from the prior Trump administration,” they said. “New York will continue to push to resume construction as soon as possible and support hard working New Yorkers getting back on the job and building our local economy.”