Blue States Consider Backing Fossil Fuels to Save Offshore Wind Farms

By Georgia Hall, Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Josh Eidelson (Bloomberg) — Governors in the US Northeast are considering dropping resistance to natural gas pipelines and other fossil fuel projects in the hopes they can convince President Donald Trump to allow offshore wind farms to move forward.

The Democratic governors of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts are racing to save wind projects worth billions of dollars along the East Coast after the Trump administration halted construction of one and is moving to rescind permits for others.

Governors and wind supporters have brainstormed ideas of potential concessions that could be offered up during any negotiation with Trump over imperiled projects. That includes small modular nuclear reactor projects and fossil-fuel infrastructure, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. 

One of the potential options that’s been floated is supporting Enbridge Inc.’s planned $300 million expansion of the Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline system, the people said. Not all of the states have endorsed all the ideas. 

“The New England governors are ready to step up if we can find a solution,” Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said in an interview. “Let’s say the Trump administration likes nuclear power. I like it, too.”

But their efforts to set up a meeting with Trump have so far been stymied, according to Lamont, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee. The governors say they would be open to considering traditional energy projects that are more popular with Trump, such as gas pipelines and nuclear power. 

“Our top priority is to have accessible, affordable energy for our businesses and residents. Knowing that increasing supply directly impacts cost, I would be open to reviewing proposals for other forms of energy generation, including a gas pipeline or nuclear power,” McKee said.

Enbridge didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

Wind advocates have been trying to rally Republicans, labor unions and corporations to their cause. Halting offshore projects risks hurting union workers tasked with building these massive farms off the coast of the Northeast US, including some of Trump’s own voters. Northeast governors have also warned that blocking fully permitted offshore wind projects worth billions of dollars shakes investor confidence and undermines Trump’s goal of delivering abundant, cheap electricity to data centers and consumers. 

“You want businesses to thrive, you want some clarity. You need some clarity,” Lamont said, adding: “Right now it is a foggy mess.”

Fossil fuel projects are a priority for the Trump administration: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are set to be in Europe for talks on natural gas this week. But their overseas sojourn means they’re also not available for an immediate face-to-face sitdown with the Northeast governors, Lamont said. 

The Northeast governors’ launched their entreaties after the Interior Department’s Aug. 22 stop-work order halting construction at the 80%-constructed Revolution wind project being built near Rhode Island by Denmark’s Orsted A/S and Global Infrastructure Partners. The Trump administration has subsequently said it’s also reconsidering a permit issued for the SouthCoast Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts and started working to withdraw its approval for the New England Wind 1 and 2 offshore farms planned near Nantucket that are being developed by Iberdrola SA’s subsidiary Avangrid Inc. 

The governors are seeking the kind of summit that helped resolve a similar move by the Trump administration against Equinor’s Empire Wind project near New York earlier this year. In a deal that saved that wind farm, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signaled the state wouldn’t stand in the way of new energy projects, opening up a pathway for natural gas pipelines, Bloomberg News reported in May. 

Massachusetts Governor Healey has said she would consider any proposals for new gas pipelines sent her way and supports a petition by utility company Eversource Energy for state approval to participate in the Enbridge expansion project. 

Rhode Island, Connecticut and the Orsted wind farm venture have also sued the Trump administration in an effort to revive construction of the Revolution project. 

The Trump administration is always in contact with state officials on key issues for their constituencies, a senior administration official said, adding that Trump has restored American energy dominance, supporting thousands of jobs nationwide that pay well.

Administration officials haven’t yet presented a clear ask to Revolution’s supporters, instead citing broad “national security” concerns in formal correspondence about the endeavor. The project — like others planned along the East Coast, including a Virginia venture near naval operations in Norfolk — was already scrutinized by the Pentagon before the Interior Department issued permits under former President Joe Biden. Energy Secretary Wright on Friday described an “active dialogue” in the administration on the fate of Revolution. 

Trump administration officials have also emphasized the potential outsize cost of electricity from offshore wind projects that were prioritized for their zero-emission benefits under Biden. The US needs more power, but they argue that should come from reliable, always-on coal plants and other generators not subject to sunsets and weather patterns.

The federal government should be “working with states, not against states, in an effort to bring more power on board,” Healey said in an interview earlier this month. “Everyone in America is dealing with the high cost of energy,” she said, adding that more electricity is also needed to power data centers. 

Still, the politicization of wind farms has made it more difficult for the Northeast governors and other wind advocates to recruit allies. Hedge funds and banks involved in financing offshore wind projects have been reluctant to get involved, said people familiar with the matter. Renewable advocates say wind projects are essential to helping satisfy data centers’ voracious electricity needs while still providing consumers with cheap power and allowing technology giants to claim some sort of progress on their environmental goals. Major backers of artificial intelligence haven’t yet publicly come to the defense of wind farms. 

Some Republican lawmakers have appealed to the White House to try and mobilize stalled conversations, according to Rhode Island Congressman Seth Magaziner, a Democrat. That outreach is tied to warnings about the economic damage wrought by the moves, he said. 

“They could be exposing American taxpayers to billions of dollars of liability if this project is permanently stalled,” Magaziner said. “It’s also just not a good look to have 45 already constructed wind turbines off the coast, not spinning and not delivering power. It would be an emblem of the administration’s dysfunction, to have those sitting out there dormant.”

While Trump has long been a turbine foe — having famously fought a planned project in view of his Scottish golf course — the administration’s accelerated moves against the nascent US offshore wind industry are clashing with his simultaneous boasts that the White House’s economic policies are fostering trillions of dollars in investments, creating new jobs and lowering energy costs.

The New England Wind 1 and 2 developments have been expected to create 9,200 jobs and deliver $8 billion in direct investment across the region, according to Iberdola.

Deliveries are still being made to Revolution Wind project sites, and specialized union workers remain under contract, even if they’re not working. But it’s not clear how long that will last as Revolution bleeds money, and as project developers go to court to fight the stall. Orsted shareholders this month approved a crucial 60 billion Danish kroner ($9.4 billion) rights offering to help steady the company’s finances as it grapples with the fallout of the government’s efforts to halt wind development. 

“At some point the developer is going to say, ‘We have lost enough money – we are done,’ said Patrick Crowley, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. 

Building trades unions whose members are affected by the stalled development of wind farms have also reached out to the White House and others in the Trump Administration, and they too haven’t had a meaningful response back, according to a union official familiar with the situation.

“Mr. President, this is not about politics, it is about jobs, energy security and American leadership,” Louis Antonellis, the business manager of IBEW, Local 103, wrote in a letter to Trump asking him to reconsider the withdrawal of federal funding for a Massachusetts port project to support offshore wind. It would have created as much as 800 construction jobs. 

© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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