Trump Strikes Blow To New England Wind Project With Cancellation Of Federal Funding For Salem Port

President Donald Trump’s administration cancelled almost $34 million intended to develop a vacant industrial facility in Salem into an offshore wind terminal, striking another blow against the already beleaguered New England Wind project slated for installation southwest of Nantucket and the struggling U.S. offshore wind industry at large.

Avangrid, the offshore wind developer behind both New England Wind and Vineyard Wind, planned to use Salem to stage the former project. It’s unclear how the loss of federal funding for the port project will impact New England Wind, or if the developers can complete the project under Trump’s regulatory regime.

New England Wind has already been substantially delayed as a result of previous federal efforts to curtail offshore wind development, which have held up power purchase agreements with Massachusetts’ utilities.

The lease areas for New England 1 and New England 2, located west of Vineyard Wind, would include 129 wind turbines that the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management estimates could power more than 900,000 homes each year.

Representatives of Avangrid did not return requests for comment.

The cut to the Salem project was part of the Trump administration’s cancellation of a total of $679 million in offshore wind funding last Friday, which came soon after its stop-work order on the nearly-complete Revolution Wind project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

“Wasteful wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. “[Former President] Joe Biden and [former Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg bent over backwards to use transportation dollars for their Green New Scam agenda while ignoring the dire needs of our shipbuilding industry. Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little.”

The cancellation is a win for offshore wind opponents like local activist group ACK for Whales, which has petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to rescind the Clean Air Act permit issued to New England Wind.

But critics see Trump’s latest move as continuing an assault on renewable energy, favoring oil and gas over renewable energy projects despite the environmental costs of climate change.

They also point to the economic ramifications of cancelling so much federal funding. The loss of funds for the Salem port project alone will cost hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs, according to Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey.

“By cancelling this funding, 800 construction workers will lose their jobs, and jobs that would’ve been created in the future won’t happen,” Healey said in a statement. “There is nothing wasteful about this project, which has been supported by both a Democratic and Republican Governor. The real waste here is the Trump Administration canceling tens of millions of dollars for a project that is already underway to increase our energy supply and support hundreds of workers and their families. As we head into Labor Day weekend, this action is a slap in the face to the hardworking men and women who keep our nation moving and deserve better than what they’re getting from their federal government.”

“President Trump said he was a job creator – he has turned into the biggest job destroyer of any President this country has seen,” Rodrigo Badaro, President of the North Shore Building Trades Council, said in a statement. “It’s clear ‘Make America Great Again’ doesn’t include construction workers on the North Shore.”