The Louisiana wind industry’s plan for survival: Outlast Trump

Louisiana's offshore wind industry has mostly stalled under the Trump administration, which has blocked new leases, halted permitting, and paid developers roughly $4 billion to abandon 12 offshore wind leases nationwide, representing about 21 gigawatts of potential power. That includes a planned 2-gigawatt wind farm off the Louisiana coast near Lake Charles, which had a deal with Entergy to supply electricity to an estimated 350,000 homes in Louisiana and Texas by 2035.

Louisiana companies and colleges had built up expertise and training programs for offshore wind over the past decade, after helping construct the country's first offshore wind farm near Block Island, Rhode Island, in 2016. By 2024, Gulf-based firms held nearly a quarter of all U.S. offshore wind contracts, with about $1 billion invested in local shipyards and fabrication plants. Now, with projects stalled and some companies laying off workers, industry leaders say their plan is simply to wait out the administration, hoping offshore wind can revive after January 2029.

For homeowners, this means any plans tied to offshore wind power, including the Entergy deal meant to serve Louisiana and Texas households, are on hold with no clear timeline. If you were hoping offshore wind might eventually lower electricity costs or add renewable power to your area's grid, that prospect looks years away at the earliest, and depends on what happens after the next presidential term begins.