Energy company threatens to pull plug on wind farm off Long Island shore as Trump review sparks $50M a week in losses

The energy company behind a partially completed wind farm off Long Island’s coast warned it will scrap the project “within days” if it’s kept in limbo by the Trump administration.Norwegian-based Equinor said it’s losing a whopping $50 million a week since Trump’s Department of the Interior halted construction on the controversial project that is expected to deliver energy to 500,000 homes in New York City, its leaders told The Post.“We will have to terminate the program within days if we don’t have a resolution with the federal government,” said Molly Morris, Equinor’s president of Renewables in America.“This situation is unsustainable.”The loss of the Empire Wind project would be a blow to New York state’s green energy push and also mean the loss of as many as thousands of jobs needed for building the sprawling wind farm.The project is supported by city Mayor Eric Adams and Gov.

Kathy Hochul and had received all the necessary permits from the prior Biden Administration last year.Morris said the suspension of the project is “unlawful” and Equinor has not ruled out filing a lawsuit to undo the freeze as 11 vessels have been left waiting on standby.Empire Wind is more than 30% complete and construction at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal — the substation where the wind power would be delivered to connect to Con Edison’s grid — is more than 50% done, the company said.More than $2.5 billion has already been spent, Morris said.Construction for the project created 1,500 jobs and as many as 4,000 total jobs total were in the works, not just in New York but also in Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.The 54-turbine wind farm, 15 miles off the Long Island coast, is opposed by Long Island beach communities, commercial fishermen and Republican allies of President Trump — including Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.Trump’s Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum stepped in last month to pull the plug on the pro...