Wind

Major US offshore wind leaseholder RWE lays off staff amid Trump turmoil

Personnel cuts and the departure of Amanda Lefton from German utility's East Coast development team point to ongoing market concerns

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New York City skylinePhoto: Jörg Schubert/Flickr
US Offshore Wind Editor, Recharge

In the latest sign of pullback in US offshore wind, Germany's RWE announced it was reducing staff due to heightened market risk amid President Donald Trump's mounting hostility toward the sector.

RWE, currently the world's biggest offshore wind developer, has substantial industry-related lease holdings on all three American coastlines.

“With the current regulatory and political environment, we have made the decision to reduce the scope of our development activities and the size of our US Offshore team,” a company spokesperson told Recharge.
On 8 March, the Boston Globe reported that 73 staff at the company’s Massachusetts office had been let go, although RWE declined to confirm specifics.

The developer's head of East Coast development Amanda Lefton, who previously led US coastal regulator Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, has also departed RWE to take over as acting commissioner of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

The move comes in the wake of continued political uncertainty surrounding US offshore wind after Trump’s executive order (EO) restricted new leasing and project approvals

Trump's EO even targets existing arrays for review with an eye for termination or amendment, although recent statements by Interior secretary Doug Burgum suggest the administration will go easier on existing projects.

RWE became one of the largest US offshore wind developers during former President Joe Biden's administration with seabed purchases on all three coasts, including a $1.1bn lease in the New York Bight that is still the highest ever paid.

The company with joint venture (JV) partner National Grid is bidding its 1.3GW Community Offshore Wind project on this lease into New York's upcoming Round 5 tender. Survey activities have begun at the site, but the developer has not yet submitted a Site Assessment Plan (SAP) to federal regulators.

The German utility is also the sole owner of an offshore wind lease in the Gulf of Mexico and is progressing floating wind in its Canopy project off Humboldt Bay in Northern California.

The layoffs conform with RWE’s announcement last year that it would delay certain expenditures related to its US offshore wind portfolio “due to market conditions and increased risk profile”.

US industry pullback

RWE is the latest offshore wind developer to pull back from the US market due to Trump concerns.

EDP Renewables, which is advancing SouthCoast via its Ocean Winds JV with Engie, booked a $138m impairment against its US offshore wind assets citing “current uncertainty surrounding US offshore projects"ollowing the presidential EOs.

EDPR chief executive Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade said the Portuguese developer was taking a “prudent” impairment that assumes a four-year delay to a project that is “ready to go”.
Oil major Shell recently paused its involvement in the 1.5GW Atlantic Shores project to New Jersey but retains ownership in its JV with EDF, including ownership of multiple other leases. EDF maintains the contracted array is ongoing.
TotalEnergies likewise paused activities around its US offshore wind assets, although its Attentive Energy 2 with Corio contracted to New Jersey remains live, the developers say.
(Copyright)

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Published 10 March 2025, 18:12Updated 10 March 2025, 20:34
AmericasUSRWENew York Bight EDP Renewables