Wind-Permit Stall Is Threatening $50 Billion in US Developments

May 23, 2026

 

Takeaways by Bloomberg

  • The Trump administration's halt to approvals for new onshore wind projects imperils $50 billion in wind investments and 150,000 jobs, according to a trade group.
  • The Pentagon has stalled roughly 130 proposed wind projects in an approval process, which has stopped investments that would generate enough power to light 20 million US homes.
  • The Defense Department's review process for wind farms is meant to ensure the projects don't interfere with military operations, but the power association alleges the department's actions amount to an across-the-board halt on projects.

 

About $50 billion in wind investments and 150,000 jobs are imperiled by the Trump administration’s effective halt to approvals for new onshore projects, a trade group said.

 

The Pentagon has bottled up roughly 130 proposed wind projects in an approval process that has stalled investments that would generate enough power to light 20 million US homes, according to a document prepared by the American Clean Power Association and seen by Bloomberg News. [If those 20 million US homes had to rely on wind power they would go dark most of the time. Everybody knows that by now. But Bloomberg repeats this preposterous claim of “enough power” uncritically.]

 

Texas, which has worked to bolster renewable-energy development, is home to one-fourth of those projects worth some $11 billion, according to the document.

 

The Defense Department has stopped sending review determinations of wind projects to the Federal Aviation Administration, which must issue its own determinations before projects can go forward, according to the document. The bottleneck has meant that new onshore wind projects that haven’t already received the FAA’s Determination of No Hazard are unable to move forward.

 

The mounting delays suggest a new front has opened in the administration’s battle against wind projects, as President Donald Trump vows that new US turbines won’t be installed on his watch.

The president has long criticized wind farms as bird-killing eyesores and famously battled turbines planned near one of his Scottish golf resorts. But the administration has moved more aggressively during Trump’s second term to thwart the ventures.

 

Read More: Permit-Backlog for Dozens of US Wind Farms Grows at Pentagon

 

The Defense Department’s review process for wind farms is meant to ensure the projects don’t interfere with military operations.

 

However, the power association in its document alleges the department’s actions amount to an across-the-board halt on projects, including those that present no identified military readiness or national security concerns.

 

Representatives of the Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

 

Trump administration officials have broadly criticized both wind and solar power, casting the emission-free renewables as reliant on government subsidies as well as additional infrastructure to compensate for the intermittent nature of their output. Even so, the US is facing a surge in electricity demand fed by the artificial intelligence boom.

 

Facing that demand crunch, there are signs the administration is taking a more flexible approach to permitting some solar ventures, but that shift has not extended to wind. While high-profile solar projects are still being announced, wind farms especially those offshore, are facing legal challenges that have hobbled their development.

 

US Wind Investments Stall as Pentagon Halts Approvals for New Projects - Bloomberg

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