Trump’s unrelenting war on offshore wind

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Northeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

OFFSHORE WIND

• President Donald Trump’s ​“unrelenting war” on offshore wind has brought a once-burgeoning industry to its knees, in the process destroying jobs, slowing economic development, and compromising energy affordability and reliability. (Canary Media)

• The developers of Revolution Wind off Rhode Island and Empire Wind off New York join Virginia’s Dominion Energy in challenging a Trump administration order halting work on five offshore wind projects over unspecified ​“national security” concerns. (New York Times)

• The governors of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island demand the Trump administration provide a classified briefing explaining the supposed threats posed by the halted wind projects. (Marine Log)

• The deadline for Massachusetts electric utilities and two offshore wind developers to file final contracts has been extended to June 2026, the latest in a series of delays. (Boston Globe)

CLIMATE

• Even as Vermont’s climate superfund law faces multiple legal challenges, the state is pushing forward with the work of calculating how much climate change has cost the state in order to determine the fee it will impose on fossil fuel companies under the law. (VTDigger)

• New York City’s 2024 greenhouse gas emissions fell to levels not seen since 2020, a sign that the city’s climate change policies are beginning to have an impact, supporters say. (The City)

• Maine fails to divest its state pension system from fossil fuel interests by its legally mandated deadline, with fund managers saying such a move would cost the system $400 million and violate its fiduciary duty. (Bangor Daily News)

NATURAL GAS

• A disagreement about whether gas companies must provide service to any customer who wants it is slowing progress on Massachusetts’ ambitious plans to transition away from fossil fuel use for home heating. (Canary Media)

• Plans to build a gas-fired power plant in Maryland can go through a newly created fast-track permitting process, state utility regulators order. (Maryland Matters)

NUCLEAR

• Living within two kilometers of a nuclear power plant significantly increases the risk of cancer, a new study of Massachusetts residents finds. (CAI)

• A New Jersey state senator plans to reintroduce a bill that would have residents start paying for a theoretical new nuclear power plant at least a decade before construction would begin. (Gothamist)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Maryland delays implementation of an inspection fee for EV chargers, amid fears that the cost could slow the expansion of charging infrastructure. (Maryland Matters)

• The first federally funded EV chargers open on the Pennsylvania Turnpike as part of the state’s goal of installing 80 new chargers along the road by the end of 2027. (PennLive)

EFFICIENCY

• New York plans to direct $110 million to an energy efficiency program for low-to-moderate-income households, reversing steep cuts announced over the summer. (New York Focus)

BUILDINGS

• A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania is 3D printing concrete structures in shapes designed to maintain strength while minimizing the use of material, which can be a major contributor to climate change. (WHYY)

AFFORDABILITY

• High electricity prices are a top issue in the Connecticut gubernatorial race, with incumbent Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, promising to build more power plants, and at least one Republican challenger looking to eliminate fees that support energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. (CT Mirror)

NEW FROM CANARY

• How community solar turned a Superfund site into savings in Illinois — Kari Lydersen

• 10 big energy stories Canary Media is tracking in 2026 — Canary Staff