The developer behind Maryland’s only permitted offshore wind farm says the Trump administration’s effort to block its project could drive the company into bankruptcy.
US Wind’s development off the coast of Ocean City could produce more than two gigawatts of zero-emissions power one day. But, for the last year, the company has fought a lawsuit over its project filed by Ocean City and other nearby jurisdictions, and last month President Donald Trump’s administration asked a federal judge to revoke a critical permit.
If successful, that move could doom an industry in Maryland that state leaders have courted for over a decade.
And US Wind says it could go down with the ship.
If its wind farm permit is “lost, surrendered, forfeited, revoked or otherwise not maintained in full force and effect,” US Wind attorneys said in a court filing Friday, company investors “have the right to declare US Wind to be in default on the repayment of the Company’s debt” or refuse to extend financing needed to complete the project.
“Either of these consequences could result in US Wind’s bankruptcy,” the company said.
The warning from US Wind, a Baltimore-based company with only the Ocean City project in its portfolio, comes as industry analysts have predicted for months that political headwinds might force the developer to pull the plug.
In its filing, US Wind asked U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher to impose a preliminary injunction to block any further attempts by the Trump administration to stymie its wind farm while the court considers the Ocean City case.
The company maintains the Trump administration has exerted “political pressure” to stop its project.
Trump has a longstanding grudge against offshore wind farms, and US Wind points in its filing to a long list of statements by the president that they argue make his political motivations clear.
Trump has called offshore wind “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY” and promised to end wind development.
“I hate wind,” he reportedly told oil executives during his campaign.
At an energy conference last month, U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said offshore wind has “no future” under this administration.
The administration’s attempt to revoke US Wind’s permit poses an “existential threat” to its business, the company says in its filing. And the government knows that the longer it delays construction, the harder it will be for US Wind to complete its project, the company writes.
If the project dies, US Wind told the court that it would lose $322 million it has already invested in its project.
While based in Baltimore, US Wind is largely owned by Renexia SpA, a subsidiary of Italian energy company Toto Holding SpA, and funds managed by Apollo Global Management, an American investment firm.
The company hopes to erect up to 121 turbines roughly 11 miles off the coast of Ocean City. It first leased the waters for its wind farm in 2014.




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