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In a stunning reversal, the Trump administration lifted its stop-work order on an offshore wind farm off New York on Monday, allowing the $5 billion project to resume construction after an expensive, monthlong freeze. 

Companies and unions in Massachusetts with contracts for this New York project or others along the East Coast met Monday’s news with relief, while one expert saw the deal as an example of the power that states have to drive the offshore wind industry forward despite federal obstacles. 

Though Empire Wind is being constructed miles south of Long Island, New York, the project, like other offshore wind farms, relies on the Northeast’s workforce and supply chain to put steel in the water. 

Piledrivers Local Union 56 is now preparing to send a contingent of 20 to 25 piledrivers from New England to the Empire Wind site, possibly by the end of this month, to install the turbine foundations, said John Dunderdale, business manager for the union.

Dunderdale got a text message from his New York union counterpart on Monday, sharing the news that the work was back on. He said he then emailed his members, who expressed relief. 

Previously, New York piledrivers have supported Local 56’s work on New England’s offshore wind projects, Dunderdale said. Now, they are going to New York to assist, and will be prepping over the next two weeks to head out to the Empire Wind site.

“Across the board, everybody is ready to go,” Dunderdale said. “It was a little touch and go trying to understand why the stop order was issued. We’ve worked really hard to create this workforce and these guys are committed to renewable energy and offshore wind.”

Coast Line Transfers, a Massachusetts-based maritime company that supports projects along the East Coast, including in Virginia, hopes it can now secure a contract for its 150-foot vessel, the MV Joseph Pearce, currently on standby at the State Pier in New Bedford. 

Ed Washburn, managing director at Coast Line Transfers, said the company was in talks with a subcontractor for Empire Wind just before the Trump administration’s stop-work order was issued. Now Washburn hopes they will resume talks to support vessels during cable laying and turbine foundation installation. Coast Line Transfer’s vessels bring provisions to the wind farms, support buoy retrieval, and carry protected species observers. 

“It was in line before the pause. Now we’ll see as everybody picks up where they left off,” Washburn said. 

According to a spokesperson for Equinor, the developer of Empire Wind, the project has committed under $5 million to Massachusetts-based contractors, a very small amount relative to the billions being spent. The figure is difficult to track exactly, as some contracts are executed at lower levels (Tier 2, Tier 3 and so on, in industryspeak) and not directly with the wind company. 

The 54-turbine project is about 30% done, though no turbines have been installed. 

On April 16, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered a halt to Empire Wind’s construction activity “until further review of information that suggests the Biden administration rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.” The Interior Department vaguely cited a NOAA report in its decision that it has refused to release to the public or the developer.

Last month, vessels were moving rocks on the seafloor to create stable bases for the turbine foundations, and this month, pile driving was supposed to be underway, an activity that requires specialized vessels and trained piledrivers, including those from Local 56.

The stop-work order was celebrated by offshore wind opponents and the fishing industry. But on Monday, the administration lifted the ban. Equinor executives said the company was losing about $50 million per week under the freeze, and threatened project cancellation if the ban continued much longer.

The resumption of construction activities, which also includes the buildout of a terminal, is putting 1,500 union workers back to work, according to Equinor. 

Jim Pimental, president of the Southeastern MA Building Trades Council, didn’t have specifics on how many Massachusetts members are working on Empire Wind, but said he hopes the lifting of the stop-work order is a sign of what’s to come for the industry. 

“I’m very happy for our union brothers and sisters in New York to get back to work,” he said. “I would hope that the Trump administration would grant the New England Wind and SouthCoast Wind projects the necessary permits they need to move forward to create thousands of great paying union jobs in Massachusetts, particularly the South Coast.”

(New England Wind is fully permitted, but SouthCoast Wind requires a key permit from NOAA Fisheries.) 

What Empire Wind’s restart could mean for Massachusetts projects

Before getting hit with the stop-work order, Empire Wind was in the same “under construction” status as other projects on the East Coast — Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind — albeit, at the earliest stage in the bunch. 

Experts previously speculated that projects under construction would be safer from intervention by the Trump administration than projects not as far along — but the Empire Wind case showed significant risk exists. 

The offshore wind industry remains subject to Trump’s day-one memorandum freezing offshore wind leasing and permitting — an order being challenged by more than a dozen attorneys general in federal court in Massachusetts. 

But as that works its way through the court, projects continue their buildout, including Vineyard Wind, which uses the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as a staging area and aims to be completed this year. 

Future projects slated for Massachusetts — SouthCoast Wind and New England Wind — either remain in regulatory limbo, or have yet to secure power contracts due to this federal uncertainty. 

“When Empire Wind was stopped, it sent a very bad message globally about the certainty and credibility of our permitting and planning process for offshore wind,” said Jennifer Downing, executive director of the New Bedford Ocean Cluster. “The lifting of the ban means people and businesses can get back to work, and that there is still an opportunity to educate the administration about the benefits and opportunities surrounding offshore wind and its responsible development.”

Kris Ohleth, director of the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, a nonprofit that works with states and industry, expressed measured optimism following the reversal. 

“Resuming work on this project [Empire Wind] after over a month of a pause provides some degree of confidence to other projects in the region who are at various stages of construction and permitting at this time,” she said.

Perhaps more significantly, Monday’s decision provided some insight into a “road map” or strategy that states can follow to support the industry.

“We see what that looks like, with the Governor of New York playing a significant role in getting this deal done,” she said. “States, if they have not yet, are ready to come to the table with whatever negotiating options they may have.”

(The role of state agencies in furthering development was a major theme at a recent offshore wind energy conference, hosted last month in Virginia by Oceantic Network.) 

Several news outlets report New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was instrumental in securing an agreement with the Trump administration to lift the stop-work order, with some citing or alluding to a deal between federal and state agencies to allow a new natural gas pipeline. 

“However, there is still a general sense of tension in the sector — developers and supply chain alike — that offshore wind projects are subject to unexpected challenges at the federal level,” Ohleth said. 

“Risk and uncertainty are the biggest threats to any large infrastructure project,” Ohleth said, particularly for those that depend on a fledgling domestic and in-demand international supply chain, as well as tight construction windows.

A spokesperson for the Interior Department declined to answer questions about the reversal, referring The Light to BOEM’s two-paragraph notice about the lifting of the ban, but in her statement confirmed that the agency’s review of the project, as directed by Trump’s memorandum, continues.

Highlighting union jobs and economic development, unions, state officials and companies hope that this stroke of good news will continue for the industry. 

“It’s great that things are back in line, and hopefully some of the fully permitted [projects] can get to a point where they reach financial close and they can move forward,” Washburn concluded. “That way, companies like mine in the supply chain can continue to invest in people and assets to support these projects.”

Local 56 has worked on Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts, and South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind out of Connecticut. After Empire Wind, the plan is to continue onto Sunrise Wind out of the Port of New London, maintaining a steady stream of work for members, some of whom have recently bought their first homes.

“I think this is a step in the right direction to make sure that people understand that offshore wind is still an option here,” Dunderdale said. “I’m hoping that’s what it means.”

Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.

4 replies on “Massachusetts unions, companies hail Trump go-ahead for N.Y. wind farm”

    1. Yes and yes, p.s., I use oil, I know you hate oil. You stay in your home. I’ll stay in mine. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. You are always a negative Nancy if it’s not what you want.

  3. Continue the dead whale count. Offshore Wind construction has resulted in complete disregard for the Marine Mammals Protection Act of 1972. NOAA, BOEM, and all parties involved are complicit and will have the blood of thousands of marine mammals on their hands after these facilities are completed. New Bedford is once again a whaling city…

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