In the 2024 legislative session, Gov. Janet Mills added a section to her state budget waiving environmental restrictions that would have stopped the creation of a wind port on Sears Island. After this budget was passed, the Maine DOT requested $456 million in federal funding to build such a wind port, and many people at the time felt that the Biden administration would approve the project funding.
But that is not what happened. On October 21, U.S. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg announced that while the Biden-Harris Administration would give $4.2 billion to 44 projects throughout the country, Gov. Mills’ Sears Island wind project would not be one of them. Since even our very pro-renewable energy presidential administration refuses to fund this project, Maine should revisit the question of whether or not we should pursue it at all.
Objections to this project have been launched from both left and right-wing sources. Right-wing complaints are expected, pointing out rising electricity costs, wind unreliability, and general objections to expensive green energy projects. Other groups’ complaints are more diverse, however. Some environmentalists object to the destruction of 75 acres of forest on Sears Island, and others have shown concern about vibrations’ impact on whales and fish.
More complaints come from Native American tribes which are pointing out the island’s cultural significance, and others come from lobstermen, who’ve shown concern about the impact a project like this might have on the industry. Despite these numerous complaints, however, this rider in the state budget passed, and many people expected the pro-renewable Biden administration to approve a federal grant supporting it.
The specific grant that Maine requested was somewhat questionable, though, as it was a transportation infrastructure grant through the federal Department of Transportation. When most people hear about transportation grants, they likely don’t think of wind turbines, but the Sears Island project involved a launching “port” for turbines to be released into the Gulf of Maine, and the state argued it qualified. This grant type had been used at least once for wind ports, but primarily for more traditional transportation improvements.
Many expected this project to receive federal funding because the Biden administration has been so pro-renewable and previously approved a wind port being funded through this grant. But, to the surprise and joy of many, Secretary Buttigieg did not approve the almost half-a-billion dollar federal price tag that this project requested. The Mills administration will now have to seek alternative federal funding. Still, the loss of such a massive amount of potential funding will hopefully diminish the momentum of this project so that it cannot proceed.
The total cost of this project would be more than $700 million, and it seems unlikely that Maine will be able to find that money to make it viable. The next question Mainers must ask themselves is why such a pro-renewable administration refused to fund this project. Is it due to the project’s unwise design, or the Biden administration’s desire not to poison Mainers in the Second Congressional District against his party’s government projects amidst a hotly contested race for Congress?