Trump Says He Wants No Wind Farms Built During Presidency

(Bloomberg) -- President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday he would seek to have a policy of having no wind farms constructed during his second term, threatening billions of dollars in planned wind projects. 

“We are going to have a policy where no windmills are being built,” Trump said during a lengthy tirade against wind power during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Trump, who has vowed a first day executive order targeting wind farms, has long made no secret his disdain for the energy source. But his remarks Tuesday represented the sharpest threat yet from the incoming president. 

As president, Trump will have broad authority over the approval of multi-billion dollar projects being planned off the US coast as well as wind farms proposed for large swaths of federal land. 

Trump criticized the renewable energy source as being too expensive and harmful to the environment and whales. Trump in particular singled out a 200 wind turbine project planned off the coast of New Jersey, an apparent reference to a project being developed by EDF Renewables Inc. and Shell PLC. Other companies whose wind projects could be under threat include Avangrid Inc., Orsted AS,  and Invenergy LLC.

“They litter our country,” Trump said. “Nobody wants them and they are very expensive.” 

Trump, who has fought against a wind project within view of his golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland, has long decried the energy source, and has even falsely claimed wind turbines cause cancer. Backers of the clean energy source said Trump’s anti-wind policy would raise electricity costs and take away an American source of power. 

“Trump is against wind energy because he doesn’t understand our country’s energy needs and dislikes the sight of turbines near his private country clubs,” said Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat. “He is completely out of touch.” 

The US wind industry has struggled over the past year. The head of GE Vernova Inc., which makes equipment for wind farms, said last month that its onshore wind orders remain “humble” and he doesn’t expect immediate improvement because data centers require constant power. Offshore wind has had an even tougher time, with multiple developments canceled or delayed due to rising costs and supply chain kinks.

(Adds comment from Oregon senator)

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