State pays price as offshore wind is banished
By: Robert Shimko
Special to the
USA Today Network
..... I've spent my career fighting for the electricians and utility workers who keep New Jersey's lights on. so when I tell you that the trump administration;s cancellation of offshore wind development off our coast is a gut punch to working families, I'm not speaking as a partisan. I', speaking as a union leader who watched real jobs, real training programs and a real energy future disappear overnight.
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Offshore wind was projected eventually to provide a quarter of New Jersey's energy - enough clean power for 3.2 million homes, said a April [2026] article in the Philadelphia Inquire. That's power that would have come Online just as our grid is being stretched to its limits and electric bills are climbing to levels that are genuinely painful for working people. We needed this power. We ne3eded the projects. and now they're gone.
..... Since Trump took office in 2025, our region has lost project after project.
..... An Associated Press story from March [2026] noted that the administration paid Totalenergies nearly $1 billion to walk away form its New York Bight lease, which would have powered nearly 1 million homes, in exchange for Totalemergies' pledge to invest the money in fossil fuels instead. Bluepoint wind, another project off our coast, was just brought out in a similar deal, said an April [2026] AP article.
Atlantic Shores, which would have powered 700,000 homes off Atlantic City, cited the Trump administration's executive order that froze offshore wind permitting when it terminated its state contract last year, [2025] as explained in a Politico story from 2025. and Leading Light Wind, a 2.4-gigawatt project, also pulled out last fall [2025] in part to "changing regulatory requirements," as reported on offshorewind.biz in April. [2026]
..... What people don't see when they rad a headline about a canceled offshore wind lease is the direct impact on people lives. Our IBEW Local 400 members were positioned to work on all of these projects - from undersea cable work to landing points splicing to the upgrades local substations need to move power from the ocean into the grid. At peak construction, we were going to have hundreds of members working in these well-paying clean energy jobs.
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Working offshore is not easy work, but it's a great opportunity for young people coming up through the trades. You might be away form your family for weeks at a time, living on a ship, working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week - but for an entry-level worker its the kind of challenge that builds a career and a life. and because wind infrastructure requires ongoing maintenance, many of the available jobs would have been longterm, family sustaining, 20-plus-years positions.
..... That future didn't just disappear. It was taken away by the Trump administration.
..... We
were counting on two major grants specifically designed to get our members ready: an 4800,000 federal grant from the Economic Development administration for wind technology training and a $2 million grant from TotalEneries. Both are now canceled. We had already drawn up plans for an addition to our Joint Apprenticeship Training Center and were coordinating with the Carpenters Union. the Carpenters even built a dedicated Global Wind Organizations taring facility to provide the kind of specialized safety certification you need to work offshore. All of this is now sitting idle.
Amid high demand, we need wind
..... At the same time, New Jersey families have seen their electric bills go up 20% said a 2025 story by Pix 11 news, energy demand is at an all-time high, and the gird is under greater strain than at any point in recent memory. Canceling energy projects that would have powered more than 3 million homes when we need it most is completely nonsensical.
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In the building trades, we are not ideological about energy. We build what's needed, whether it's a wind turbine, a natural gas plant, a solar project, transmission lines - we do it all. what we can't afford is a feral government that kills off entire industries for political reasons while working families absorb the consequences in their utility bills and their paychecks.
..... And on top of the impacts on electricity prices and jobs, the Trump administration is using American taxpayer dollars to buy companies out of these legally executed offshore wind leases. We are literally paying more to cancel viable energy projects in the middle of a national energy cost crisis.
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The offshore wind pore jct in New Jersey went through competitive processes, the grants were awarded on merit and the jobs were family-sustaining. the power was real. And it was all taken away.
..... We urge this administration to reverse course on offshore wind, restore the training grants that were canceled and stop treating New Jersey's energy future as a bargaining chip. Our members are trained, ready and willing to do this work. the gird needs the power. Families need the relief on their bills. give us the chance to build.
..... Robert Shimko is the business manager of IBEW Local 400, representing electricians and utility workers across Monmouth and Ocean counties.