The War for Wind: Industry Steels Itself Against Resistance
Adam Wilson_
“Offshore wind works.” That’s the message Liz Burdock wanted to convey at the 2026 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston. “The projects are performing,” she said. “The technology is proven.”
Yet, the industry struggles. Headlines decry the death of the offshore wind industry, and political strikes continue to hamper development. In March, the administration of US President Donald Trump announced that it would pay TotalEnergies nearly $1 billion to abandon its work on offshore wind farms off the East Coast.
And, in June, the administration announced it would pay Invenergy $765 million to abandon its offshore wind ambitions in the New York Bight, off the Central Coast of California, and in the Gulf of Maine. With other similar announced deals, the total expected to be spent on quashing offshore wind rises to nearly $2.5 billion.
“This is not a dead industry,” Burdock said, “but the pressure is real. Honestly, every day does feel like a crisis.” Burdock is the president and CEO of Oceantic Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding offshore wind resources globally.
“The news stories say the industry is dead, stalled, irreparably harmed. You take your pick. That’s the narrative. It’s not the reality,” she said.
Burdock pointed out that US offshore wind capacity has grown from just 42 MW 2 years ago to more than 1 GW today. “And by the end of the year, this industry will have built almost 6 GW, a 500% increase from where we are today. It’s enough to power 2 million homes, right when the country needs energy the most. And we are building and operating despite all the obstacles.”
Burdock pointed to success stories Vineyard Wind (Fig. 1) off Massachusetts and South Fork (Fig. 2) off New York.
In January, the Northeast US was hit with winter storm Fern, which severely stressed the electrical grid. Prices spiked, and operators struggled to keep the lights and heat on, Burdock said. “And then what happened? Offshore wind showed up. Vineyard reached capacity factors as high as 75%, right exactly when the grid needed it the most,” she said.
South Fork, she said, also operated throughout the storm, providing relief to New Yorkers. “During winter storm Fern, prices in New York really skyrocketed, with a notable exception—along Eastern Long Island,” Burdock said. “South Fork achieved a 52% net capacity factor for the month of January and reached as high as 80% on some days. New York’s most efficient natural gas plants top at about 53%. Because South Fork is not subject to variable prices on the spot market, it’s able to churn out energy consistently at a single fixed rate. A rate, I might add, that is frequently well below wholesale market prices.”
Headwinds Into Change
The political challenges, however, remain significant, but they are being challenged in court. And the offshore wind industry is winning.