President Trump will cut off all federal support for offshore Wind on day one. There will be no more prop-ups, price supports, federal incentives, discounts, or grants. The Executive Branch will stop writing blank checks to Big Wind with your money. What does that mean for projects in the pipeline? What about all those leases BOEM sold on October 29th for future wind farms in the Gulf of Maine?
Most of that isn’t possible without massive federal market interference. Lease or no lease, the vendors have to decide if they can make enough after construction to cover those unsupported costs. The answer is no, without the bags of cash and buckets of incentives. The power agreement price would be so high that even a Democrat governor would have to say, “Hell no.” That’s what keeps happening in states like New Jersey and New York.
Even tax and spend states like New Jersey, and Maryland are shuddering at the price tag to move forward. A problem the wind idiots in New York have come to discover isn’t going away and cannot be justified.
New York’s signature offshore wind projects meant to boost confidence in the industry are being scrapped, a major hit to the industry in the state and the nation.
Without a potential return on investment, there’s no incentive to start construction, so how long do you sit on a lease, hoping that four, eight, or twelve years along, you can develop it? Can you sit on it when your stocks took a beating the day after Trump won the election? Is it possible or even economical to wait and see if a friendly future benefactor awaits?
It’s a sketchy proposition. Every year, researchers have time to solidify evidence that offshore wind is harming the ocean ecosystem. BOEM has already released research suggesting this is true. Additional reports will emerge. Environmental groups who can no longer be bought off or weren’t will not keep quiet.
Europe’s addiction to the green lie is beginning to cost politicians their positions. Enthusiasm has waned, eating away at foreign financial support to companies looking to develop new farms here. Declining capital, a lack of guarantees of federal backing, and a ton of political will (all of which has vanished) will make loans more challenging to acquire. You can build wind farms in thin air, but not out of it.
The Gulf of Maine remains undeveloped. It is entirely possible that thanks to President Donald Trump, it will stay that way, at least for a little while – time we should spend shoring the case against it everywhere and anywhere, people will listen.
