Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Sparks

Trump’s Offshore Wind Review Has Dominion In Its Crosshairs

The Coastal Virginia wind project is already halfway done — but that hasn’t stopped the administration from seeking to interrupt it.

Wind turbines and Virginia.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images, Library of Congress

The U.S. government signaled that it will review previously issued approvals for Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia offshore wind project, the first indication that even wind projects with all their permits already will have to fend off the Trump effect.

On his first day in office, Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order targeting the offshore wind industry that requested the Interior Department, in consultation with the Justice Department, to conduct “a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases, identifying any legal bases for such removal.”

We now have our first indication that this review is in fact happening: On January 29, the Interior Department and the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow — an anti-renewables organization suing to kill the Coastal Virginia project — together requested through legal representatives that a federal judge delay (or in legal parlance, enlarge) the briefing schedule for a lawsuit CFACT had filed to kill the Coastal Virginia offshore wind project.

The filing cited Trump’s executive order, noting that “among other things,” it directed “the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a review of existing offshore wind leases.”

“In light of these developments, CFACT and Federal Defendants respectfully move to enlarge the briefing schedule in this case,” the filing stated, adding that the regulatory offices overseeing the relevant approvals “are under new leadership, who require time to become familiar with the issues presented by this litigation and the Presidential Memorandum and to determine how they wish to proceed.”

CFACT filed the lawsuit against Dominion last year alongside the Heartland Institute and the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative legal nonprofit, claiming that the government had erred in its analysis of how the 2.6 gigawatt offshore wind project would affect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

It’s unclear whether the Trump administration is citing the executive order because it will actually review leases Dominion holds for Coastal Virginia or if this is a portal to other kinds of reviews. CFACT’s lawsuit does not ask for any change to the leases, but instead seeks to undo the final permits and a letter from the federal government authorizing construction.

This quiet legal filing yet further indication that the federal backlash to offshore wind is paralyzing the U.S. permitting regime. Heatmap reported last week that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which handles offshore wind approvals, appears to be winding down even procedural, pre-decisional staff activity that would let developers progress forward under Trump, even if at a snail’s pace.

I asked the Interior Department if this means the agency is reviewing previous approvals for offshore wind projects, but spokesperson J. Elizabeth Peace told me that “Department policy is to not comment on pending litigation.”

Dominion said in a press release last week that Coastal Virginia was now “approximately 50% complete” and “remains on track for on-time completion” by the end of 2026. I asked Dominion if this means anything changes for Coastal Virginia. Dominion spokesperson Jeremy Slayton told me the company remains "confident" the project will "be completed on-time” late next year.

We’ll bring you an update if CFACT gets back to us about this filing. And believe that I’ll be tuning in to Dominion’s earnings call tomorrow.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a comment from Dominion Energy.

Yellow

This article is exclusively
for Heatmap Plus subscribers.

Go deeper inside the politics, projects, and personalities
shaping the energy transition.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Sparks

Rhizome Raises $6.5 Million for AI Grid Resilience

The company will use the seed funding to bring on more engineers — and customers.

Power lines.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

As extreme weather becomes the norm, utilities are scrambling to improve the grid’s resilience, aiming to prevent the types of outages and infrastructure damage that often magnify the impact of already disastrous weather events. Those events cost the U.S. $182 billion in damages last year alone.

With the intensity of storms, heat waves, droughts, and wildfires growing every year, some utilities are now turning to artificial intelligence in their quest to adapt to new climate realities. Rhizome, which just announced a $6.5 million seed round, uses AI to help assess and prevent climate change-induced grid infrastructure vulnerabilities. It’s already working with utilities such as Avangrid, Seattle City Light, and Vermont Electric Power Company to do so.

Keep reading...Show less
Blue
Sparks

Don’t Look Now, But China Is Importing Less Coal

Add it to the evidence that China’s greenhouse gas emissions may be peaking, if they haven’t already.

A Chinese coal worker.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Exactly where China is in its energy transition remains somewhat fuzzy. Has the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases already hit peak emissions? Will it in 2025? That remains to be seen. But its import data for this year suggests an economy that’s in a rapid transition.

According to government trade data, in the first fourth months of this year, China imported $12.1 billion of coal, $100.4 billion of crude oil, and $18 billion of natural gas. In terms of value, that’s a 27% year over year decline in coal, a 8.5% decline in oil, and a 15.7% decline in natural gas. In terms of volume, it was a 5.3% decline, a slight 0.5% increase, and a 9.2% decline, respectively.

Keep reading...Show less
Blue
Sparks

Rewiring America Slashes Staff Due to Trump Funding Freeze

The nonprofit laid off 36 employees, or 28% of its headcount.

Surprised outlets.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

The Trump administration’s funding freeze has hit the leading electrification nonprofit Rewiring America, which announced Thursday that it will be cutting its workforce by 28%, or 36 employees. In a letter to the team, the organization’s cofounder and CEO Ari Matusiak placed the blame squarely on the Trump administration’s attempts to claw back billions in funding allocated through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

“The volatility we face is not something we created: it is being directed at us,” Matusiak wrote in his public letter to employees. Along with a group of four other housing, climate, and community organizations, collectively known as Power Forward Communities, Rewiring America was the recipient of a $2 billion GGRF grant last April to help decarbonize American homes.

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow