OCEAN CITY, Md. - Maryland Governor Wes Moore has released a statement on the latest development in the ongoing legal battle over US Wind’s proposed offshore wind farm project that would put over 100 wind turbines off Delmarva's coast, a local debate that now has the full attention of the Trump Administration.
As WBOC first reported on Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi signaled the administration’s plans to vacate approval for US Wind’s offshore wind development off the coast of Delmarva on Friday, Aug. 22, in US District Court in Delaware. On Monday, Aug. 25, the federal government underscored its commitment to revoking permit approvals by notifying the District Court in Maryland of its intentions to reverse approval.
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued its approval to US Wind under the Biden Administration.
Governor Moore’s office shared his reaction to Trump’s push to rescind approval late Monday with WBOC.
“Canceling a project set to bring in $1 billion in investment, create thousands of good-paying jobs in manufacturing, and generate more Maryland-made electrical supply is utterly shortsighted,” Moore said in a statement to WBOC. “The President’s actions will directly lead to utility-rate hikes by taking off most promising ways for Maryland to meet its looming energy generation challenges.”
“This technology was set to create 2GW in additional capacity in the coming years, which will help increase supply and help meet Maryland’s electricity demand,” Moore said. “Few if any other technologies represent such potential for utility-scale energy generation without adding the harmful public effects of climate pollution.”
Governor Moore heads the Board of Public Works in Maryland. In November of 2024, the board approved a tidal wetlands license that would allow US Wind to construct a pier on Ocean City’s Sinepuxent Bay as part of its project development.
“To choose a path away from offshore wind is for the Trump administration to admit that it cares more about satisfying his promises to those who bankrolled his campaign than about what is in the best interest of Marylanders – or the country as a whole,” Moore also said Monday.
“And to do so under the guise of establishing America’s energy dominance – while leaving out renewable sources, which are often the most plentiful and affordable – shows us again that the president cares more about putting his own whims over the good of the country,” the Maryland Governor continued.
Elected leaders in Ocean City and Maryland’s Eastern Shore’s Congressional Representative Andy Harris struck a vastly different tone Monday in response to the federal government’s latest court filing, praising the Trump Administration’s intervention to prevent US Wind’s project.
"President Trump’s decision to move toward revoking US Wind’s federal permit is a very positive development for Ocean City," Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan told WBOC on Monday, along with multiple other opponents to US Wind's proposed offshore development. "This action acknowledges the validity of our objections and represents a major step in protecting our community, our coastal environment, our commercial and recreational fishing industries and the future of Ocean City."
The Trump Administration has notified both district courts in Maryland and Delaware that it plans to officially file for a reversal of US Wind’s permit approval by Biden’s Department of the Interior by September 12.