After extensive talks with federal, state, and local officials and pressure from organized labor and environmentalists, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) notified offshore wind developer Equinor that it has lifted its stop-work order on the Empire Wind 1 project 15-30 miles off the south shore of Long Island, New York. The Trump administration’s reversal came a month after it initially issued a stop work order on the offshore wind farm that is currently over 30 percent completed and on schedule to be operational by 2027.
Additionally, the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT), which will serve as the staging location for Empire Wind 1 and other East Coast wind projects, is being constructed under a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) on its way to creating 1,000 union jobs and apprenticeships.
However, the Trump administration has paused federal leases for offshore wind projects, as it continues to favor the oil, gas, and mining industries. It is also holding up a federal grant of $3.8 million awarded to the Educational and Cultural Trust Fund in September 2024 that would help establish a Global Wind Organization (GWO) certified safety training facility in Walden, New York.
“Local Union 3, I.B.E.W. is thrilled that the administration has decided to allow the Empire Wind 1 Project to proceed,” Business Manager Christopher Erikson said in a joint press release with the Climate Jobs New York coalition. “There was so much at stake for the renewable energy industry, the union employees who would be performing the work, and the opportunities for the surrounding communities to participate in the project. We also hope the grant that was awarded to our industry’s training fund from the U.S. Economic Development Administration proceeds without any further delay, and that we will be able to construct the Offshore Wind Training Facility to complete the necessary training to certify the tradesmen and tradeswomen in order to work on these energy projects.”
