Pentagon Clears Wind Farms in Permitting Reform Push

The Trump administration is lifting a blockade that had stalled some wind farms in a bid to boost support for a bipartisan plan to speed construction of US energy and infrastructure projects.

Marking the shift, the Pentagon on Thursday advanced proposed wind projects in Maine and South Dakota, clearing them after a national security review that has bogged down scores of similar ventures nationwide. The action was described by a White House official who asked for anonymity because there hasn’t been a formal announcement.

The move is being cast as a show of good faith — and a partial fulfillment of an administration promise to advance some wind projects. That pledge is seen as critical to advancing a bipartisan permitting overhaul bill on Capitol Hill this year.

At issue are Pentagon reviews of wind farms to ensure they don’t imperil national security by unduly interfering with military operations. The government’s vetting — normally a fairly routine review — can result in agreements with developers to mitigate risks, with the department forwarding final determinations to the Federal Aviation Administration for separate scrutiny.

But under President Donald Trump, the national security authorizations have become a major obstacle to permitting and constructing onshore wind farms, building a long backlog at the Pentagon.

Full details on the wind farms advanced Thursday were not immediately available, but the official described them as being part of an initial tranche of projects under review at the Pentagon. More authorizations are expected in the coming days and weeks, the official said, as the Defense Department continues evaluating the wind power projects on a case-by-case basis.

Wind projects that secure the Pentagon’s authorization may be subject to additional requirements to mitigate their effects on national security, military operations and mission readiness. Some developers have argued the Pentagon’s proposed mitigation agreements give the Defense Department wide discretion to yank approvals later, creating too much uncertainty to finance, insure and build the wind farms.

Separately, the Trump administration has asked federal courts to remand previous Interior Department authorizations for two proposed offshore wind farms this month, sending those approvals back to the agency for additional review in the wake of court challenges mounted by project opponents.

That creates an opening for changes in construction approvals — for instance allowing the Interior Department to deny or impose new limitations on the ventures. In a filing Tuesday seeking to reconsider a construction plan approval for a proposed Avangrid Inc. wind farm near Massachusetts, the Trump administration nonetheless defended the government’s scrutiny of the project’s potential effect on marine life and its authorization permitting some disturbance to whales and dolphins.

Trump is a longtime wind power critic, frequently describing turbines as ugly, inefficient and lethal to wildlife. After returning to the White House last year, Trump issued a moratorium halting permitting of proposed offshore wind projects, his administration issued stop-work orders stopping construction on others and some developers abandoned plans to install turbines in coastal waters in deals with the US government.

Lifting barriers to renewable power projects — as well as oil and gas infrastructure — is a key promise of the bipartisan permitting package that’s been brokered between White House officials and Democratic Senators Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island as well as Republican Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Mike Lee of Utah.

The Trump administration has offered to allow a number of stalled wind and solar projects to proceed as part of the compromise plan, Whitehouse has said. The administration’s promise would apply to some 30 wind projects out of roughly 300 currently suspended pending Pentagon approval, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.

The Pentagon’s Thursday move didn’t fully reassure key Democrats who’ve pushed for more action on renewable projects. “It’s a start, but we are going to need to see a lot more from the administration on wind and solar,” Whitehouse said in a statement.

Whitehouse and other senators last month announced they had reached a deal with Republicans on the measure to speed permits for major energy projects — potentially accelerating the development of solar arrays, wind farms and oil wells, among other ventures.

Supporters of the legislation cast it as a rare opportunity to remake the nation’s permitting laws to enable the buildout of critical energy infrastructure, as climate change demands a shift toward emission-free power and as surging electricity needs drive demand for natural gas.

The deal between Democratic and Republican lawmakers has the potential to be a significant victory for oil companies as well as renewable energy developers that have long sought to accelerate federal permitting and scale back environmental reviews that can drive years-long delays and hundreds of millions of dollars in extra costs.

The Senate is slated to take up the bill when the chamber returns after November’s midterm elections, though it still faces an uncertain future amid opposition from some environmental groups and certain progressive House Democrats.

Photo: Wind turbines in Rio Vista, California. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg