Posted on May 21, 2025
The Trump administration will allow a major offshore wind project that will deliver power to New York to continue, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) said Monday.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum halted the project last month, claiming that the Biden administration did not adequately review it.
But, Hochul said in a Monday evening post on X that she managed to “save” the project by working with the administration.
“1,500 union jobs. 500,000 homes powered by wind. That’s what Empire Wind 1 will deliver,” Hochul wrote.
“I’ve been working with President @realDonaldTrump to save this project & today learned we’ve been successful. Grateful for his partnership on projects that create jobs here in New York,” she added.
Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum indicated in his own post that the project’s salvation may have come in response to pro-pipeline remarks from Hochul.
“I am encouraged by Governor Hochul’s comments about her willingness to move forward on critical pipeline capacity,” Burgum wrote.
“Americans who live in New York and New England would see significant economic benefits and lower utility costs from increased access to reliable, affordable, clean American natural gas,” he added.
Burgum did not name a specific pipeline. However, the Trump administration has pushed for Hochul’s approval of the Constitution Pipeline, a gas pipeline that would run through New York. The pipeline project was canceled years ago after it failed to get approval from state regulators.
Hochul spokesperson Paul DeMichele said via email that “no deal on any natural gas pipeline was reached.”
He directed The Hill to a statement from Hochul in which she said “New York will work with the Administration and private entities on new energy projects that meet the legal requirements under New York law.”
The Trump administration has generally been hostile to climate action and has targeted wind energy in particular, with Trump on his first day in office signing an executive order that barred the government from auctioning off the rights to build wind farms offshore and also temporarily blocked new rights for wind on public lands.
But the decision to issue a stop-work order was seen as a further escalation, halting a project already in progress.
The president has repeatedly bashed offshore wind, complaining about the impacts to birds and views and even baselessly claiming in 2019 that wind power noise can cause cancer.
At the same time, however, he has declared a national energy emergency and says the nation needs to produce more power.
Empire Wind 1 would be expected to deliver 810 megawatts of power into Brooklyn, enough to power 500,000 New York homes, according to the project’s website.
