Maine delays contracting for offshore wind power

Maine Public | By Peter McGuire
Published July 16, 2025 at 5:29 PM EDT


Maine's goal of using 100% clean energy by 2040 relies in large part on tapping power generated by offshore wind farms.

But it has delayed its first ocean wind power purchase as President Donald Trump’s energy policy dims the industry’s immediate future.

The Maine Governor's Energy Office was supposed to issue its first solicitation for energy generated by offshore turbines at the beginning of July, according to a 2023 law.

But last month the Maine Public Utilities Commission agreed to the office's request to extend that deadline indefinitely.

In an email, Burgess said the extension was due to "recent changes in the energy landscape that have caused significant uncertainty in the offshore wind industry, including shifts in federal energy policy and market conditions."

President Trump campaigned to end the U.S. offshore wind industry and put a stop to federal leasing for new developments on day one of his administration. The impact has had a chilling effect on the burgeoning sector, which Maine and other New England states have looked to to supply future power needs.

Maine's energy plan calls for buying 3 gigawatts of ocean wind power by 2040 and the resource forms the backbone of the state's ambition to reach totally clean electricity by the same year.

Burgess said the state will monitor the industry and communicate with the utilities commission when conditions for a solicitation may improve.

Continue reading at https://www.mainepublic.org/climate/2025-07-16/maine-delays-contrac...

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Comment by Willem Post 6 hours ago

Why has the view count of articles been eliminated?

Someone needs to give rational reasons

Comment by Willem Post 6 hours ago

The state needs to lay off several hundred people associated with with floating offshore, because that is never going to happen to happen.

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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