Latest news with #ProtectOurCoast
Reuters
03-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Wind opponents sue Trump administration to block New York wind project
June 3 (Reuters) - Fishing companies and offshore wind opponents filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging the Trump administration's decision to reverse course and allow construction to resume on Empire Wind, a $5 billion wind farm project off New York's coast. Protect Our Coast New Jersey, Clean Ocean Action, ACK for Whales and 12 fishing industry participants in a lawsuit, opens new tab filed in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey, sought to reinstate a stop work order Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued in April halting construction of Equinor's ( opens new tab wind project. Burgum issued that order after Republican President Donald Trump on his first day back in office on January 20 directed his administration to halt offshore wind lease sales and stop the issuance of permits, leases and loans for both onshore and offshore wind projects. He did so while also moving to ramp up the federal government's support for the fossil fuel industry and maximize output in the United States. Trump as a candidate last year promised to end the offshore wind industry. But weeks after Burgum signed the stop-work order, the administration in a turnabout on May 19 allowed work to resume on Empire Wind, which is being developed by Norway's Equinor and is expected to provide power for half a million homes from 2027 onward. The administration did so in a compromise with New York that could also see canceled plans for a gas pipeline revived. Burgum said he was encouraged that New York Governor Kathy Hochul will now allow new gas pipeline capacity to move forward. Tuesday's lawsuit argued that the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management did not adhere to the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide a basis for restoring the work permits. Bruce Afran, the plaintiffs' lawyer, said the administration had properly recognized the lack of investigation about serious environmental harm from Equinor's project. "The administration correctly pulled the Empire Wind work permit because of these concerns and had no basis to reinstate the work orders a month later," he said in a statement. "This lawsuit seeks to restore the stop work order." Equinor declined to comment on the lawsuit itself but in a statement said the project "has undergone years of rigorous permitting and studies, and secured all necessary federal, state and local approvals to begin construction in 2024." The agency did not respond to a request for comment.
E&E News
03-06-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Wind opponents sue to stop Empire project
A coalition of fishermen and offshore wind opponents sued the Trump administration Tuesday in an attempt to stop construction of Empire Wind 1. The lawsuit seeks to reinstate a stop work order issued by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in April and comes just as the 54-turbine project under development south of Long Island prepares to commence foundation installation. Protect Our Coast New Jersey, Clean Ocean Action, ACK for Whales and a dozen fishing companies claim Burgum failed to adhere to the Administrative Procedure Act when he lifted the stop work order in May. The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court District for New Jersey, argues federal regulators illegally approved the project's permit and that it will permanently damage fisheries and the marine environment. Advertisement The lawsuit scrambles traditional political alliances around offshore wind. Wind opponents sought to walk a fine line in a press release announcing the suit, praising President Donald Trump's longtime opposition to offshore wind even as they challenged his administration's decision to allow Empire Wind 1 to move forward.
New York Post
25-04-2025
- Business
- New York Post
New Yorkers would be forced to pay 2.5x market rate for wind energy from Empire Wind One offshore farm: expert
New Yorkers would be forced to pay 2.5 times the market rate for electricity generated by the Empire Wind One offshore wind farm if the deal goes through, according to an independent financial analysis. The Trump Administration paused construction of the controversial project — 54 turbines in the Atlantic Ocean some 14 miles south of Long Island — last week, saying it needs further review. The project has seen strong backing from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams. Trump's move was welcomed by those who claim the project is going to overcharge taxpayers. Advertisement 'New Yorkers are entitled to clean, affordable, reliable energy,' Christina Kramer, president of Protect Our Coast Long Island New York, told The Post. 'And this is none of those things.' 8 Wind turbines in a farm structure in the Atlantic like the one proposed off Long Island. The pictured turbines are on a Wind Farm near Rhode Island, which was the first commercial offshore wind farm in the US. Getty Images 8 A computer rendering of the Empire Wind 1 facility's Onshore Substation, which would collect the electricity generated by the turbines. Empire Wind Advertisement The organization had requested analysis from Edward P. O'Donnell, a New Jersey nuclear engineer and consultant who spent 35 years running nuclear plants. 'Empire Wind One was awarded a contract to charge $155 a megawatt hour (MWH) for their power,' O'Donnell told The Post. 'It's a subsidy, because if you didn't have Empire Wind One, the utilities would buy [power] from the wholesale market at about $50 a megawatt hour.' The total amount of the subsidy, O'Donnell said, would be $9 billion. The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), who manages the state's power grid, is mandated to buy power generated by offshore wind over cheaper power from gas-fired or nuclear plants. The federal Inflation Reduction Act, signed by former President Joe Biden in 2022, also provides a 30% tax credit for offshore wind projects that begin construction before Jan. 1, 2026, and additional credits are available for using US labor and building materials. Advertisement 'A company who is building an $8 billion offshore wind project — that's what they're costing — can get up to half of that refunded to them as a tax credit,' O'Donnell said. 'That's on us, federal taxpayers throughout the country. We're all footing that bill.' 8 Christina Kramer, president of Protect Our Coast Long Island New York, who have pointed out the costs to taxpayer which the project is incurring. 8 A map showing the proposed area of the the Empire Wind Project, with phse one in yellow and phase two in purple. The map also shows the cable pipelines for the electricity to be transferred back to shore. Congress may repeal the federal tax credit, O'Donnell said, but he also expects that would get thrown back at the consumer. Advertisement 'If and when the tax credit gets repealed they would then lose $2 billion of their capital funding. They would go back to NYSERDA and say, we need another $50 per megawatt hour, or we need $205 or $210 per megawatt hour, whatever, or else we can't go forward,' he speculated. O'Donnell points to previous examples of Empire Wind One and another contractor, Sunrise Wind — which is building 84 turbines in the ocean 30 miles east of Montauk Point — having already done this. In 2019, NYSERDA awarded a contract to Empire Wind One, owned by the Norwegian company Equinor, at a rate of $118 per MWH for 25 years. It also agreed to pay Sunrise Wind, owned by Orsted, a Danish energy giant, $110.37 per MWH for 25 years. Three years later, both companies wanted rate hikes, citing high costs and supply chain bottlenecks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 8 Edward P. O'Donnell, a New Jersey nuclear engineer and consultant who spent 35 years running nuclear plants. courtesy of Edward P. OâDonnell 8 Graph showing the prices for power generated by the offshore wind projects compared to the standard market price, and how it is expected to raise over time. Graph by Edward P. OâDonnell of. Whitestrand Consulting LLC., Long Beach Township, N.J The requests were declined by the New York State Public Service Commission, but NYSERDA gave them the opportunity to rebid their contract and awarded them more money. NYSERDA re-signed the developers with contracts at significantly higher prices: $155 per MWH for Empire Wind One, a 31% increase, and $146 per MWH for Sunrise, a 32% price hike. Advertisement 'The Empire Wind One rebid ratepayer subsidy will total $9 billion over the life of the facility,' O'Donnell wrote in his report. 'The 2024 present value of these above-market ratepayer costs is $6.2 billion, compared with $4.4 billion for the original Empire Wind One contract.' O'Donnell claims New York ratepayers will provide $18 billion in subsidies to the two foreign offshore wind companies. With the ratepayer and federal subsidies, O'Donnell says his research shows Equinor would see a rate of return on their investment over 20%, much higher than the 9% regulated utility companies are generally allowed to earn. 8 Turbines on the Mount Storm Wind Farm in West Virginia. Getty Images Advertisement 8 A diagram showing the size of the wind farm turbines for the Empire Wind Project compared to the Chrysler building in New York City. Empire Wind 'I think that no public utility should be making money off of the residents. A public utility is supposed to be just that — a service that's provided, that is created out of our tax dollars in part. But having these private equity companies make a fortune off of us after we've subsidized it is a proverbial slap in the face. We're onto it, and we're not going to stop,' Kramer added. Empire Wind declined to comment on the subsidies. A NYSERDA spokesperson declined to comment on the economic analysis but complained about its sponsor. Advertisement 'Protect Our Coast Long Island is a vocal critic of offshore wind energy and has been engaged in a strategic political effort to derail New York's offshore wind industry and the substantial economic opportunities it delivers,' the spokesperson said via email. 'Staff of the Department of the Interior has obtained information that raises serious issues with respect to the project approvals for the Empire Wind Project,' Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum wrote in a Wednesday letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 'Approval for the project was rushed through by the prior administration without sufficient analysis or consultation,' he added. Kramer is pleased construction has stopped, but added: 'I think that we'd be even more elated if they said, 'Well, we're just going to put a full stop to them.' '
