State House News Service

By Ella Adams

BOSTON, MARCH 26, 2025……In an increasingly expensive and politically divided energy sector, power industry leaders in Massachusetts greatly oppose Trump administration policies and are pushing for more investment in clean energy infrastructure, which they say would help lower costs.

"The Trump administration policies are creating an energy affordability crisis. It doesn't matter if it's clean energy or natural gas or any energy, he's making the price go way up," Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper said Wednesday at a State House News Service/MASSterList event.

During President Donald Trump's second term, he has signed executive orders that move to dramatically change the nation's energy and climate policy. But Massachusetts leaders say they aren't letting off the gas, as the Healey administration is adding "final touches" to an upcoming energy affordability bill and the clean energy sector is pushing for investment, including support for offshore wind.

Energy sector leaders and Tepper said that a focus on energy interconnection and storage will need to take a leading role in order for the state to continue its clean energy transition. Among other potential actions broached Wednesday were implementing policy to support municipal climate progress, continuing to reduce barriers to solar and storage permitting and installation, and maintaining climate targets in legislation.

Some have raised concerns about the state's ability to meet its net zero energy mandate, which relies on offshore wind success, in the midst of a decreasing federal appetite for green infrastructure. Trump's energy agenda includes decreasing the nation's global climate involvement, increasing domestic oil and gas production and removing electric vehicle incentives. He signed a temporary withdrawal of all offshore wind leasing in January.

Tepper contrasted the United States' limited offshore wind progress with progress internationally.

"I think it's really important to understand how much this industry is growing in other places. In Europe, they have 34 gigawatts right now online — that's the equivalent of 42 Vineyard Winds," Tepper said. "In China, for both onshore and offshore, they built the equivalent of 551 Vineyard Winds. That's 444 gigawatts of wind."

"The rest of the world is building offshore wind because they know that it brings energy affordability, it brings energy security, and it brings energy independence," she continued.

Leaders also suggested delays in clean energy projects are creating broad, negative impacts on other sectors.

"If a project takes five extra years to get permitted because of false claims about health impacts or reliability, that delay isn't cost-neutral — it's an economic, environmental and social setback," Joe Curtatone, president of the Alliance for Climate Transition said.

The Trump administration argues its proposed energy policy will bring America into an era of energy "independence" and "dominance." Tepper disputed the ways in which the federal administration suggested it could get there.

"We need to be energy independent, and that's vital, but we should not take domestic energy sources off the table," Tepper said. "The doubting of federal agencies and costly tariffs are creating a lot of uncertainty and instability in the economy. Offshore wind is not immune, but I am confident, and I remain confident, that there will be an offshore wind industry off the coast of Massachusetts."

Uncertainty resulting from tariffs and shifting policy is causing some investment hesitation, according to Curtatone, JERA Americas Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs Randolph Bell and Rebecca Ullman, director of external affairs at SouthCoast Wind.

"It's hard to overstate how impactful the Trump administration has been on investor confidence in offshore wind," Ullman said. SouthCoast Wind remains in delayed contract negotiations with Massachusetts and Rhode Island for new regional projects, which Ullman did not comment on Wednesday. The execution of those contracts is expected by March 31; the initial deadline was Aug. 14, 2024.