Offshore wind adopts tougher stance in US as industry threats mount

Twenty seven miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, 59 yellow steel structures rise up from the ocean, waiting for wind turbines to be fused on top.

The project they belong to, Dominion Energy’s $10.8bn Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, will form the biggest offshore wind farm in the US, generating enough energy to power 660,000 homes — if it is completed.

But now, the industry has entered fighting mode following the election of Donald Trump, who promised to end offshore wind “on day one” during the election campaign.

Much of the industry opted for a passive approach to his anti-renewables stance on the campaign trail. But in response to the cancellation of high-profile projects and permitting freezes, renewables executives and advocates say now is the time for a more aggressive approach to save the still nascent US industry.

Many companies and advocacy groups have stepped up their efforts since Trump was re-elected. Invenergy, the largest privately held renewable power company in North America spent $1.9mn on lobbying in the first quarter of 2025, a more than 400 per cent increase year on year, while the American Clean Power Association spent $510,000, its highest spend in a over decade.

“The only way out is through,” Liz Burdock, chief executive of the Oceanic Network trade body, told the International Partnering Forum (IPF), the largest offshore wind conference in the Americas, last week. “It’s time we respond with strength,” she said.

Burdock joins a growing chorus of industry advocates who say the time has come to curry favour with politicians and engage in legal fights to keep projects like CVOW moving.

In recent week, representatives from trade bodies and companies across the offshore wind supply chain have been spreading themselves across Capitol Hill. Instead of burnishing offshore wind’s green credentials, lobbyists are arguing the industry is essential for the US’s energy security, meeting AI-fuelled energy demand growth and providing job opportunities in Midwestern and rustbelt states, which supported Trump.

Representatives from Equinor, which backed the $4.5bn Empire Wind project off the coast of New York, have directly lobbied National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett and are trying to make inroads with energy secretary Chris Wright and interior secretary Doug Burgum.

While Dominion has been coy on its efforts to lobby politicians, analysts say much of the hope for projects such as CVOW rests on Republicans like Glenn Youngkin, governor of Virginia, where it is based.

According to clean energy business group E2, of the 390 clean energy projects announced after the passing of the IRA in 2022, 243 were located in Republican congressional districts.

“Governor Youngkin was at President Trump’s inauguration, but he’s been much more of an ally [to offshore wind]. I do think that is a factor versus the other projects which benefit more blue states,” said Jefferies clean energy analyst Paul Zimbardo.

Analysts say that CVOW is also in a favourable position because of its advanced construction stage, and that Dominion would also have recourse if provisions of the IRA were to be cut by Republicans as part of the budget reconciliation process.

“The company would have some ability to go back to the regulators and come up with solutions for how to maintain the project’s economics,” said Bill Appicelli, head of North America power and utilities research at UBS.

In the company’s first-quarter earnings call, chief executive Robert Blue estimated tariffs could cost the project an additional $500mn. However, the bulk of these costs will be borne by Virginia taxpayers and Stonepeak, an infrastructure and real assets investment firm with a 50 per cent stake in CVOW. A representative for Youngkin said the project’s financing arrangements should protect Virginia taxpayers from cost overruns.

However, future levies could knock the project off course.

“Dominion does have a history of executing large projects on time and on budget,” said Barclays’ power and utilities analyst Nicholas Campanella. “At the same time, they are at the whim of the administration.”

Outside Virginia, the Trump administration’s attacks on wind are also being met with legal challenges. Lawyers from 17 states and Washington DC filed a lawsuit in early May challenging the January executive order.

Equinor has said it is mulling its legal options over the cancellation of Empire Wind.

However, the industry is still split on how much noise it should make. An executive from another renewables company told the Financial Times that his company’s plan is to “keep our heads down” and avoid the administration’s attention.

Some already fear that uncertainty and investment flight could gut the industry long after Trump’s second term is over.

“It’s going to be difficult to restore trust,” said Tomas Fertig, vice-president, business development at Entrion Wind.

“[The US] looks more like a third world country where you need to have quick recovery of investments, because you never know what’s going to happen in the future.”