An ill wind
States sue Trump over his offshore wind shutdown—but Louisiana, whose businesses stood to cash in, isn’t among them.
East Coast states are challenging the Trump administration’s multibillion-dollar campaign to pay offshore wind developers to walk away from their leases.
Why it matters: Louisiana companies—especially those along the coast—had turned their offshore oil-and-gas expertise into new business serving the wind industry. The administration’s effort to halt offshore wind development threatens that opportunity.
The details:
- Louisiana businesses once accounted for roughly one-fourth of the nation’s executed offshore wind contract value. Edison Chouest Offshore, for example, built the first U.S.-built, Jones Act-qualified service operations vessel for the industry.
- An eight-state coalition that does not include Louisiana filed two lawsuits this week challenging $1.4 billion in federal payments to Bluepoint Wind and Invenergy. In return for the money, the developers agreed to abandon four projects planned off the East Coast.
- The agreements are part of a broader administration effort that has committed more than $4 billion to companies relinquishing offshore wind leases. Trump has repeatedly criticized wind turbines, including their appearance and effects on birds.
The big picture: AI and data centers are driving electricity demand, and Trump strongly supports their expansion. At the same time, his administration is paying companies to abandon one potential source of new power.
The bottom line: Onshore wind development should grow under a future administration. But offshore wind may have a harder time recovering because it is more expensive to build, and that could cost Louisiana maritime companies a multi-billion market in which they had an advantage.
