Rhode Island’s clean energy plans are at a crossroads after Rhode Island Energy, the state’s dominant utility company, walked away from negotiations to purchase power from the SouthCoast Wind offshore wind farm last month.
The state has pledged to decarbonize electricity by 2033 and reach net-zero emissions economywide by 2050, goals that rely on offshore wind. The SouthCoast Wind project, roughly 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, was expected to deliver 200 megawatts to Rhode Island as part of a larger 2.4-gigawatt buildout – enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes.
But with the project still in early-stage development and its federal approval still under review, the collapse of talks raises the question: Can Rhode Island still count on offshore wind to meet its clean energy goals?
Some have their doubts right now.
“It’s very hard for anyone relying on the industry to plan for the future right now,” said David Bidwell, an associate professor at the University of Rhode Island who studies the social and economic impacts of offshore wind development. “Anyone who has skin in the game is constantly having to adjust to rules and decisions that keep changing.”
Bidwell’s concern reflects the broader instability of the offshore-wind pipeline – a challenge that the R.I. Office of Energy Resources, a state regulator, is monitoring closely in the wake of the SouthCoast Wind deal falling through.
“The [SouthCoast Wind] situation is unfortunate,” said OER spokesperson Robert Beadle. “But large-scale renewable energy projects across the Northeast, including SouthCoast Wind, are expected to face federal permitting uncertainty and ongoing litigation over the next few years.”
Rhode Island Energy first entered negotiations for a power purchase agreement with SouthCoast Wind after the project was selected on Sept. 6, 2024, said Michael Dalo, the utility company’s spokesperson.
But those talks, which stretched past multiple extended deadlines, ultimately failed to produce an agreement, with discussions between the two sides ending in November.
“This is an extension of that state of uncertainty over offshore wind,” Bidwell said of the collapsed deal.
Requests for comment from SouthCoast Wind were not returned.
The timing of the end of negotiations highlights just how dramatically that landscape has changed since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term in January.
Since then, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management have revisited – and, in some cases, rescinded – previously granted offshore wind permits, creating fresh uncertainty for projects that states have already penciled into long-term emissions cuts.
Bidwell noted that supply chain delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and cost overruns had already strained offshore wind developers, leaving the industry in a fragile state just as Trump’s second term began adding new layers of uncertainty.
“It’s become a politicized issue,” Bidwell said. “Opposition against offshore wind is much more organized than it was during Trump’s first term. They’ve figured out what talking points are effective. We’ve been headed in this direction for the last few years.”
Despite the setbacks, Bidwell stressed that offshore wind is unlikely to disappear. Port investments, vessel contracts and a trained workforce are already in place throughout the region. And the state’s need for clean energy remains ever-present.
“If and when a future presidential administration is more supportive of the industry, things will again move forward,” he said. “Rhode Island’s zero-carbon goals rely on offshore wind. The infrastructure is already here.”
