‘Yes to Wind’: Maryland advocates join to oppose Trump’s assault on offshore projects

by Christine Condon, Maryland Matters
October 31, 2025

Advocates and lawmakers gathered in Baltimore on Friday to punch back at President Donald Trump’s assault on offshore wind projects, including one planned for Maryland’s coast.

Until Friday, the battle had largely played out in warring court documents traded between the Trump administration and US Wind, the company behind the proposal for up to 121 turbines off the coast of Ocean City.

In September, Trump’s Department of the Interior told a federal judge that it plans to revoke a critical federal permit issued to the US Wind project in the dying days of President Joe Biden’s administration.

The permit had been challenged by the Town of Ocean City, which welcomed the permit reversal. But the judge is still considering the government’s request, which has been ardently opposed by US Wind.

The event in Baltimore was the first of several “Yes to Wind” events planned for states across the country, and attracted two Maryland Democrats: U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen and U.S. Rep. Johnny Olszewski.

“What you’re seeing here is people power. Because what you’re seeing from President Trump in the White House right now is a tip of the hat to the Big Oil guys,” Van Hollen said. “They don’t like the competition.”

Earlier this year, a coalition of Maryland climate groups, labor unions and renewable energy advocates joined to form the Offshore Wind Alliance. They’ve squared up against the Stop Offshore Wind coalition, sponsored by the Town of Ocean City, Worcester County and business groups from the beach town.

But not everyone on Maryland’s Eastern Shore opposes the project, said Jared Schablein, chairman of the civic organization Shore Progress.

“This project injects new life into our local workforce by bringing real jobs, real investment and real hope into my community,” Schablein said. “It’s about making sure the next generation of shore kids don’t have to move away to find opportunities.”

Much of the messaging on Friday was focused on the economics behind the wind project, with supporters arguing that the project will lower utility bills by bolstering power supply.

“Offshore wind means lower utility bills. Let me say it again: Offshore wind means lower utility bills,” Olszewski said. “Blocking these projects will not lower costs, it will raise them.”

The project’s opponents have argued that, in addition to hurting Ocean City tourism and coastal fisheries, the project will raise power bills, partly because of construction costs.

Paul Pinsky, director of the Maryland Energy Administration, said it’s possible that the wind farm could cause a “blip” for ratepayers, but urged Marylanders to take a long-term view of the project’s economics.

“With many of these energy projects, whether it’s rooftop solar or offshore wind, there’s an upfront cost, but it can get recovered fairly quickly, and once it’s recovered, the price drops considerably,” Pinsky said.

A January study from the Energy Administration indicated that Maryland is “below trajectory to meet its existing clean energy targets, in particular those renewable targets set for 2030.” The state has an overall goal of reaching 100% carbon-free energy by 2035.

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The Trump administration began by halting the issuance of any new offshore wind leases off the coast of the United States. But the administration has since begun targeting projects that already received federal approval — and in some cases, had already started construction, unlike Maryland’s project.

The Trump administration has issued “stop work” orders to Empire Wind in New York (which was rescinded after negotiations with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul) and to Revolution Wind in Rhode Island (which was overturned by a federal judge).

In Maryland, the administration requested to revoke the project’s approval, citing a need to review impacts on coastal fisheries and search-and-rescue efforts in the area.

“It wasn’t enough to raise taxes on clean energy. It wasn’t enough for them to stop offshore wind leases,” said Maryland Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D- Montgomery). “They had to actually do stop work orders on projects that were 80% complete, because that’s how much their billionaire fossil fuel buddies are threatened by offshore wind.”

The administration also rescinded $679 million in grant funding for port projects in the U.S., including some tied to offshore wind manufacturing. That included $47.4 million bound for the Sparrows Point Steel turbine manufacturing hub planned for Baltimore County.

“Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a news release at the time.

“This is an administration that has explicitly gone after clean energy projects in Democratic-led states and Democratic-led districts,” Olszewski said. “That is not who we are as Americans. We are better than that.”

Friday’s news conference was held at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 24 office in Baltimore, which also includes a training center for future electricians.

The center trains about 600 apprentices each year, said Rico Albacarys, political director for the union. In high-voltage training courses taught toward the end of apprentices’ four years of study, the students work on the types of thick cables that run through wind turbines, Albacarys said.

To work on building Maryland’s first offshore wind farm, though, electricians will need a special certification that isn’t offered at the center on Patapsco Avenue in West Baltimore.

Called global wind organization training, the certification costs about $2,000 per person, and it only lasts for two years, Albacarys said. So the Trump administration’s efforts to slow the US Wind project have made it more difficult for the union to plan when it will train its members, Albacarys said.

“We’re trying to thread the needle,” Albacarys said. “We don’t want to start training them too early [so] that they have to get recertified before they actually are able to work on the turbines.”

Regardless of the recent obstacles, Albacarys said he’s confident that Maryland will eventually gain a wind farm on its Atlantic coast.

“It’s only a matter of time,” Albacarys said. “I know it doesn’t feel that way right now, but I think 20 years from now, we’re looking back at: ‘Oh, remember that speed bump?’”

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