Louisiana wind energy proponents change their tune as Trump pauses development

Yahoo

19-03-2025

Wind energy advocates and lawmakers see potential for wind power expansion in Louisiana. (Creative Commons photo by Kim Hansen/CC BY-SA-3.0)
Wind energy has gained some momentum in Louisiana, where there has been bipartisan support for policy to launch the alternative power source off its coast. But that push faces hostility from the Trump administration, which has halted all offshore wind energy development in federal waters for the time being.
While wind power development in state waters isn't subject to the executive order, advocates are emphasizing their economic messaging — playing down the climate-friendly aspects of the renewable resource and focusing more on its ability to create jobs, save consumers money and address growing electricity demand.
Industry supporters honed in on economic value while making their case Monday to the Louisiana House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment. The panel was tasked with gathering information on solar and wind energy development in a House study resolution representatives approved last year.
Jenny Netherton, with the Southeastern Wind Coalition, acknowledged Louisiana's fossil fuel legacy when she made her pro-wind points to lawmakers.
'This is a once in a generation economic opportunity, the same way that Louisiana has capitalized on oil and gas,' she said.
Rep. Joe Orgeron, R-Larose, has authored multiple laws aimed at giving offshore wind development a foothold in Louisiana. They include an amendment to the Louisiana Constitution approved in November with 73% support that dedicates state revenue from offshore wind energy toward coastal restoration and protection.
Orgeron and other backers of offshore wind energy in the legislature have stressed how the existing workforce devoted to oil and gas exploration can be used to build and install wind farms in coastal waters.
'Now we finally have another energy job that's not related to the price of oil and gas that communities can make a living from,' said Orgeron, the committee's vice-chairman.
Blake Canfield, executive counsel for the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources, also affirmed the state's potential for wind energy.
'We are known worldwide we're being an energy state and for having done many years of oil and gas activity. A lot of the technical expertise, manufacturing and other attributes that make us … very good at oil and gas, I think also can carry over to offshore wind,' Canfield said.
Trump stalls wind work
An executive order from President Donald Trump led the Environmental Protection Agency to pause all development of offshore wind energy development. It also halts all leasing of federal waters for such projects while the agency reviews its permitting procedures.
'We're not going to do the wind thing,' Trump said at a rally following his Jan. 20 inauguration. 'Big, ugly windmills, they ruin your neighborhood.'
Trump has also made several false claims about risks from wind energy, like saying the noise from wind turbines causes cancer.
Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, chairs the Natural Resources and Environment Committee and authored the study resolution that led to Monday's presentation. He expressed concern for responsible wind energy development, referencing the current 'wild wild west' of solar regulation.
He advocated for state involvement in wind energy permitting, with Netherton noting such projects have a longer development timeline — around 10 years from the start of construction to when power is generated. She explained this could be an advantage in terms of creating uniform regulation.
'We support wind done right,' said Scott Eustis, community science director for the environmental advocacy group Healthy Gulf. He leaned in on the environmental angle, comparing the impact of wind projects to oil and gas development.
'Any project has a footprint. You want zoning, you want buffers,' Eustis said. 'We just don't see the hazard zone' with wind that fossil fuel infrastructure involves.
To account for massive turbines, a 2022 Louisiana law created a 25,000-acre area for wind energy leases in state coastal waters compared with 5,000 acres for oil and gas leases. Orgeron was co-author of the legislation.
Wind as a stabilizing force
Lawmakers and industry advocates alike spoke about the need for supplemental sources of electricity when demand on the power grid is at its greatest — during peak summer heat and extreme winter cold — and outages following hurricanes.
Netherton said wind energy avoids the spikes in commodity prices that can cause electric bills to increase. When natural gas prices increase utilities are allowed to pass along the expense to customers.
Although the initial investment in wind energy development is steep, Netherton said it ultimately benefits consumers in the long run.
'Both offshore and onshore wind are cost competitive when considered over the life of a project,' Netherton said.
The financial advisory firm Lazard's levelized cost of energy assessment for 2024 similarly found that renewable energy like wind and solar 'remain cost-competitive with conventional generation technologies under certain circumstances,' placing cost of onshore wind produced at a utility scale from $27 to $73 per megawatt/hour, some of the lowest cost energy available.