Department of Interior emails reveal Biden’s offshore wind waivers could cost taxpayers millions

Newly uncovered emails from the Biden administration’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) show that taxpayers could be on the hook for $191 million in removal costs for Vineyard Wind, a 62-turbine wind farm being constructed off the coast of Nantucket, as a result of waivers the administration granted Vineyard Wind and other East Coast projects. 

In its rush to fulfill former President Joe Biden’s goal of constructing 30 gigawatts of wind farms off the coasts of America, the Biden administration had issued waivers for financial assurances on offshore wind projects, saying they present an unnecessary burden to the industry. 

The financial assurance requirement protects the public from decommissioning liabilities. If companies can’t afford to remove the wind towers they’re building after their useful life, the public has an assurance that those liabilities will be covered.

In 2017, Vineyard Wind requested a waiver to delay the assurances for 15 years after the project was built, and it was denied. They requested the same waiver in 2021 under the Biden administration, and the request was granted. The waiver cited long-term power purchase agreements, which guarantee the facility operators a set price for the electricity they produce over 20 years, “robust insurance policies,” and the “use of proven technology.”

Specific number gets axed

Vineyard Wind began delivering power to the grid in January 2023, and it’s been the source of controversy since it was first proposed. The opposition grew in the summer of 2023 when a blade broke off one of the turbines and littered the beaches of Nantucket with debris, which was estimated to cost the company $700 million. 

Emails exchanged between BOEM officials in January 2024 discussing how to respond to an inquiry about the waiver, which the Functional Government Initiative obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, show that an early draft of the statement BOEM issued suggested the waiver amounted to $191 million. 

On January 15, Jason Gradziadei, editor-in-chief of the Nantucket Current, a local newspaper, asked about statements BOEM had provided Fox News for a story on the waivers. In response, the agency sent Gradziadei the same statement it had issued to Fox News. 

Gradziadei sent follow-up questions to BOEM on Jan. 18 asking about the full amount of the decommissioning financial assurance. In an email from Brian Walch, public affairs specialist at the Department of Interior, to Tracey Moriarty, office director for the Office of Communications at BOEM, Walch asked Moriarity which of two statements to provide to the journalist in response to one of the follow-up questions. 

In an early statement draft, BOEM stated that the estimated decommissioning liability would be approximately $191 million. Later, this was obscured, by being changed to say only that the amount was “based on the plan that was approved and will finalize and make any necessary adjustments upon construction completion and other relevant factors.” 

“This specific number was in one of the draft responses, and then it got axed. So it was never sent out,” Roderick Law, communications director with the Functional Government Initiative told Just the News. 

Actual figure possibly higher

Law said that the figure is likely much higher than that estimate. Even before President Donald Trump issued a moratorium on new offshore wind leases in January, the industry was struggling financially due to inflationary pressures and supply chain issues. 

Amy DiSibio, board member for Ack4Whales, a Nantucket-based group opposed to offshore wind development, told Just the News that she is also skeptical that the figure would cover the costs of decommissioning the project. 

“That's peanuts next to what it would cost. That's probably what they want them to start escrowing as a percentage. But it would cost a lot more. It costs as much, if not more, to decommission than it does to commission. These projects cost billions of dollars,” DiSibio said. 

Whatever the actual costs of decommissioning, if the companies don’t have the finances to cover the costs, it will fall upon taxpayers. 

During a boat tour of the construction site in 2023, a representative of Avangrid, the parent company that owns Vineyard Wind, told MV Times that the project would be operational by the middle of last year. As of today, MV Times reports, the project has four operating turbines out of the 62 turbines that are planned for the first phase of the project. 

“This was essentially a $191 million gamble with our money. It’s not often you can put a price on recklessness, but BOEM under its previous leadership, was in such a rush to get the risky project underway that it left American taxpayers unprotected,” Law said. 

Vineyard Wind isn’t the only project for which the Biden administration issued waivers. Revolution Wind, a 65-turbine project off the coast of Rhode Island, received a waiver in March 2024, which requires the developer to establish a decommissioning account 15 years after the initiation of operations. The project is currently under construction, and the company estimates it will be operational in 2026. 

South Fork Wind, which began operations in March 2024, also received a waiver with similar conditions to those granted to Revolution Wind for its waiver. Two other proposed projects that haven’t begun construction also received financial assurance waivers. 

Comprehensive review

Trump’s moratorium was issued in order to do a “comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases.” 

The executive order gave offshore wind opponents hope that their concerns, which they say the Biden administration ignored, would finally be heard. Empire Wind, a 54-turbine project planned south of Long Island, was temporarily halted, but given the green light last week. 

A coalition of East Coast groups, including Green Oceans and Ack4Whales, concerned about the impacts of offshore wind facilities, are trying to put pressure on the Trump administration to live up to the executive order. They are petitioning the Department of the Interior to halt six construction projects off Rhode Island and Massachusetts, including Revolution Wind. 

“The future of our oceans and the countless species and communities depending on them rests on swift, decisive action. We respectfully call on Secretary Burgum to establish a lasting legacy of responsible ocean stewardship and lawful governance,” Lisa Quattrocki Knight, president of Green Oceans, said in a statement. 

The groups’ letter argues that the Biden administration engaged in “serious legal violations” in the rush to get projects permitted. In addition to the failure to require decommissioning bonds, they argue the permitting process violated the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, exceeded Congressional authority in violation of the major questions doctrine, and did not engage in adequate consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act. 

“These legal violations—each serious on its own—collectively establish a strong legal foundation to rescind approvals for all six offshore wind projects,” the letter states. 

While it may be difficult for the Trump administration to put the brakes on projects already under construction, which include Revolution Wind and Empire Wind, it may take more action to review those that haven’t initiated construction. If the Trump administration does approve more projects, it won’t likely be so quick to grant financial assurance waivers.