Construction gonna start back up on an offshore wind farm near Long Island that might power a half-million homes, after the Trump administration did a 180 and decided to un-halt the project, according to New York elected officials and the energy company developing the wind farm. Gov. Kathy Hochul said she worked with President Donald Trump to “save” Empire Wind 1, the project’s nickname. Officials claim it’s gonna create 1,500 union jobs and provide clean energy for 500,000 homes. “I knew this critical project needed to move forward and have spent weeks pushing the federal government to rescind the stop-work order to allow the workers to return and ensure this important source of renewable power could come to fruition,” she said in a statement late Monday. “I also reaffirmed that New York will work with the Administration and private entities on new energy projects that meet the legal requirements under New York law.” The commercial wind farm is being built by Norwegian company Equinor about 12 nautical miles south of Long Island. Construction started on the first phase in 2024 and is now more than 30% complete, according to Equinor. Anders Opedal, the company’s president and CEO, praised Hochul on Monday for working with the Trump administration to advance the project, which he said would otherwise not have been able to move forward.
The Pause and The Outrage
In mid-April, U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the administration was directing the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to immediately pause Empire Wind 1 so federal officials could review “information that suggests the Biden administration rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.” The work stoppage was met with outrage by numerous New York Democrats, including Hochul, who at the time promised to “fight this every step of the way.” State Sen. Andrew Gounardes of Brooklyn called the move a “slap in the face to New Yorkers.” On Monday, many of those same politicians lauded the turnaround. “The Empire Wind 1 project is a cornerstone of our clean energy transition and a bold step forward for American manufacturing,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, who represents Lower Manhattan and parts of northern Brooklyn. “I remain fully committed to doing everything in my power to see this critical project through to completion.” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said restoring the project was one of his top priorities at a White House meeting with Trump earlier this month. Adams said his office had sent letters to the Interior Department and U.S. Department of Energy and had met with officials at Equinor. “We did all of this because the Empire Wind 1 energy project brings with it billions of dollars of investment in our economy and creates thousands of good jobs — both in New York City and through a U.S.-based supply chain across 20 states,” Adams said in a statement late Monday. Burgum wrote in a statement on X on Monday that he was “encouraged by Governor Hochul’s comments about her willingness to move forward on critical pipeline capacity.” It wasn’t immediately clear if she made a pipeline deal with Trump, and neither her office nor the administration responded to inquiries early Tuesday. Empire Wind 1 is scheduled to be completed in 2027, Equinor said. The related Empire Wind 2 project had already faced hurdles before Trump took office, with developers terminating the initiative last year and citing economic headwinds. New York officials said they would reopen bidding for the facility’s development.
The Future of Clean Energy
Trump’s January executive order demanding federal agencies to review wind projects and leasing across the country has put several of New York’s other clean energy efforts in limbo, including an ambitious plan to convert Queens’ massive Ravenswood Generating Station to renewable sources. “Offshore wind is a vital part of our energy mix — a domestic resource that creates union jobs and strengthens our grid,” Vincent Alvarez, president of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, said in a statement Monday. “Let’s get back to work powering our future.”
