(Bloomberg) — Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont vowed to work with the Trump administration to restart construction on a major offshore wind development, saying there’s “a deal to be had” despite the Interior Department’s surprise move to halt the project.
Lamont, a Democrat, said he’s already been discussing regional power supplies with the Interior and Energy Departments, adding that an agreement on the wind farm is possible but he still needs to “see what the ask is.” The Revolution Wind project, backed by Denmark’s Orsted A/S, is 80% complete and had been poised to start operations next year.
“I talked to all the key players and many of them did not know this was coming,” Lamont said Monday at a news conference.
The Aug. 22 order to halt the project marked a new setback for the wind industry as the Trump administration seeks to roll back Biden-era climate policies and end what the White House describes as preferential treatment for wind and solar. Orsted’s shares tumbled after the announcement, underscoring the risk that projects on federal lands and waters face from President Donald Trump’s attacks on renewable energy.
Revolution Wind, which would provide power to 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut, was approved by the Biden administration in 2023. With a building cost estimated by Jefferies to be $4 billion, all of its offshore foundations and 45 out of 65 wind turbines have been installed.
Located off the Rhode Island coast, the project can’t resume work until the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management grants permission, according to an official order.
At the event with Lamont, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy accused Trump of seeking to destroy renewable energy in an attempt to favor fossil fuels such as oil and gas.
Murphy’s fellow Connecticut Democrat, Senator Richard Blumenthal, called the decision “blatantly illegal” and said the administration would lose in court if there’s a legal challenge.
“It is nuts, crazy, insane to stop a project that is 80% completed,” said Blumenthal, a former Connecticut attorney general.
Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee, a Democrat who spoke at a separate event with labor leaders, warned of job losses and rising energy costs because of the project’s cancellation.
In April, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum halted work on Equinor ASA’s $5 billion Empire Wind farm off the coast of New York. But the decision was reversed a month later after the administration reached a deal with New York Governor Kathy Hochul to open the way for new gas pipelines to be built in the state.
Lamont said that he had spoken with Hochul following the government’s order to halt the Revolution project. He said increasing power sources in Connecticut, including natural gas, had been floated in conversations with the Trump administration.
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