Podcasts about Dominion Energy

Allen covers Equinor’s Hywind Tampen floating wind farm achieving an impressive 51.6% capacity factor in 2025. Plus nine nations commit to 100 GW of offshore wind at the North Sea Summit, Dominion Energy installs its first turbine tower off Virginia, Hawaii renews the Kaheawa Wind Farm lease for 25 years, and India improves its repowering policies. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! There’s a remarkable sight in the North Sea right now. Eleven wind turbines, each one floating on water like enormous ships, generating electricity in some of the roughest seas on Earth. Norwegian oil giant Equinor operates the Hywind Tampen floating wind farm, and the results from twenty twenty-five are nothing short of extraordinary. These floating giants achieved a capacity factor of fifty-one point six percent throughout the entire year. That means they produced power more than half the time, every single day, despite ocean storms and harsh conditions. The numbers tell the story. Four hundred twelve gigawatt hours of electricity, enough to power seventeen thousand homes. And perhaps most importantly, the wind farm reduced carbon emissions by more than two hundred thousand tons from nearby oil and gas fields. Production manager Arild Lithun said he was especially pleased that they achieved these results without any damage or incidents. Not a single one. But Norway’s success is just one chapter in a much larger story unfolding across the North Sea. Last week, nine countries gathered in Hamburg, Germany for the North Sea Summit. Belgium, Denmark, France, Britain, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and their host Germany came together with a shared purpose. They committed to building one hundred gigawatts of collaborative offshore wind projects and pledged to protect their energy infrastructure from sabotage by sharing security data and conducting stress tests on wind turbine components. Andrew Mitchell, Britain’s ambassador to Germany, explained why this matters now more than ever. Recent geopolitical events, particularly Russia’s weaponization of energy supplies during the Ukraine invasion, have sharpened rather than weakened the case for offshore wind. He said expanding offshore wind enhances long-term security while reducing exposure to volatile global fossil fuel markets. Mitchell added something that resonates across the entire industry. The more offshore wind capacity these countries build, the more often clean power sets wholesale electricity prices instead of natural gas. The result is lower bills, greater security, and long-term economic stability. Now let’s cross the Atlantic to Virginia Beach, where Dominion Energy reached a major milestone last week. They installed the first turbine tower at their massive offshore wind farm. It’s the first of one hundred seventy-six turbines that will stand twenty-seven miles off the Virginia coast. The eleven point two billion dollar project is already seventy percent complete and will generate two hundred ten million dollars in annual economic output. Meanwhile, halfway across the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii is doubling down on wind energy. The state just renewed the lease for the Kaheawa Wind Farm on Maui for another twenty-five years. Those twenty turbines have been generating electricity for two decades, powering seventeen thousand island homes each year. The new lease requires the operator to pay three hundred thousand dollars annually or three point five percent of gross revenue, whichever is higher. And here’s something smart: the state is requiring a thirty-three million dollar bond to ensure taxpayers never get stuck with the bill for removing those turbines when they’re finally decommissioned. Even India is accelerating its wind energy development. The Indian Wind Power Association welcomed major amendments to Tamil Nadu’s Repowering Policy last week. The Indian Wind Power Association thanked the government for addressing critical industry concerns. The changes make it significantly easier and cheaper to replace aging turbines with modern, more efficient ones. So from floating turbines in the North Sea to coastal giants off Virginia, from island power in Hawaii to policy improvements in India, the wind energy revolution is gaining momentum around the world. And that’s the state of the wind industry for the 26th of January 2026. Join us tomorrow for the Uptime Wind Industry Podcast.

This Day in Legal History: Marbury v. MadisonOn January 20, 1803, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Marbury v. Madison, a case that began as a minor dispute over an undelivered judicial commission and ended by redefining American constitutional law. The story traces back to the final days of the Adams administration, when outgoing President John Adams rushed to appoint Federalist judges before Thomas Jefferson took office. John Marshall, then serving simultaneously as Secretary of State and incoming Chief Justice, sealed the commissions but failed to deliver several of them. One of the would-be judges, William Marbury, petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to force Jefferson's Secretary of State, James Madison, to hand over the commission.The case placed Marshall in a precarious position, as he was being asked to rule on a problem he had helped create. Marshall first held that Marbury had a legal right to his commission and that the law ordinarily provided a remedy when such rights were violated. He then turned to the Judiciary Act of 1789, which appeared to grant the Supreme Court original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus. Marshall concluded that this provision conflicted with Article III of the Constitution, which strictly limits the Court's original jurisdiction. Rather than ordering Madison to act, Marshall declared that the statute itself was unconstitutional.By denying Marbury his commission while simultaneously asserting the power to strike down an act of Congress, Marshall executed a strategic legal maneuver that avoided a direct confrontation with the executive branch. The Court emerged stronger despite losing the immediate case. In explaining why the Constitution must prevail over conflicting statutes, Marshall articulated the principle of judicial review. That reasoning transformed the Supreme Court from a relatively weak institution into the ultimate interpreter of constitutional meaning.The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to a Hawaii law that restricts carrying handguns on private property open to the public without the owner's explicit permission. The case was brought by three licensed concealed-carry holders and a local gun rights group after Hawaii enacted the law in 2023. Under the statute, individuals must have clear verbal or written authorization, including posted signage, before bringing a handgun onto most business premises. A lower federal court initially blocked the law, but the Ninth Circuit later ruled that the measure likely complies with the Second Amendment.Hawaii has argued that the law appropriately balances gun rights with property owners' authority to control access to their premises. The challengers contend that the rule effectively prevents lawful gun owners from engaging in everyday activities such as shopping, dining, or buying gas. The challengers are supported by the Trump administration, which claims the law severely burdens the practical exercise of Second Amendment rights. The Supreme Court declined to review other portions of the law involving bans in sensitive places like beaches and bars.The dispute unfolds against the backdrop of the Court's recent expansion of gun rights, particularly its 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which recognized a right to carry handguns outside the home for self-defense. That decision also reshaped how courts evaluate gun regulations by focusing on historical analogues rather than modern policy goals.US Supreme Court to hear challenge to Hawaii handgun limits | ReutersA federal judge has allowed Dominion Energy to resume construction on its $11.2 billion offshore wind project off the coast of Virginia, marking another courtroom loss for President Donald Trump's efforts to curb offshore wind development. Judge Jamar Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that Dominion could restart work while it continues to challenge a stop-work order issued by the Interior Department. That order had halted several offshore wind projects based on newly cited, classified national security concerns related to radar interference.Walker found that the government's suspension was overly sweeping as applied to Dominion's project and emphasized that the cited security risks related to turbine operations, not ongoing construction. Earlier in the week, other offshore wind developers had secured similar rulings, allowing their projects to move forward despite the administration's objections. Dominion has already invested close to $9 billion in the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is expected to supply electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes. The company said it would focus on safely resuming construction while continuing to pursue a long-term resolution with federal regulators.The decision underscores the legal and financial stakes for the offshore wind industry, as project delays can threaten multi-billion-dollar investments. At the same time, lawsuits challenging federal actions and the administration's opposition to offshore wind continue to create uncertainty for the sector. Several states, particularly along the East Coast, view offshore wind as critical to meeting growing energy demand and reducing emissions as electricity use increases.US judge allows Dominion offshore wind project to restart, another legal setback for Trump | ReutersFlorida has joined Texas in scaling back the American Bar Association's role in determining which law school graduates may sit for the state bar exam. In a 5–1 decision, the Supreme Court of Florida ruled that the ABA will no longer serve as the sole accrediting body for Florida bar eligibility, though graduates of ABA-accredited schools will remain eligible. The court said it plans to allow graduates of law schools approved by other federally recognized accrediting agencies to take the bar, even though no such agencies currently specialize in law school accreditation.The court framed its decision as an effort to expand access to affordable legal education while protecting academic freedom and nondiscrimination. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis praised the move, criticizing the ABA as overly partisan and arguing it should not control entry into the legal profession. The ABA responded that the ruling reaffirms state authority over licensing and said it would continue to promote the value of national accreditation standards.Florida's decision follows a similar move by the Supreme Court of Texas, which recently announced plans to develop its own criteria for approving non-ABA law schools. Other states, including Ohio and Tennessee, are also reviewing their accreditation rules. These developments come amid escalating conflict between the ABA and President Donald Trump's administration, which has taken steps to reduce the organization's influence across multiple areas, including judicial nominations and legal education.Within the ABA, the controversy has prompted internal reforms aimed at reinforcing the independence of its law school accreditation arm. One Florida justice dissented, warning that abandoning exclusive reliance on the ABA was an unnecessary and risky departure from a system that had functioned well for decades.Florida joins Texas in limiting ABA's law school oversight role | ReutersIn my column for Bloomberg Tax this week, I argue that the Internal Revenue Service's partnership audit program has effectively been dismantled under the second Trump administration, with specialized auditors fired, pushed out, or leaving altogether. These weren't ordinary revenue agents but highly trained experts who understood the most complex partnership structures and could spot abuse hidden deep inside tiered entities. Once that kind of institutional knowledge walks out the door, it can't simply be rebuilt by restoring funding later. There is no meaningful private-sector substitute for this expertise, and when these specialists leave government, they often stop doing enforcement work entirely.I explain that this collapse isn't just a federal tax problem—it's a looming state budget issue. High-income states that rely heavily on progressive income taxes are especially vulnerable when wealthy taxpayers shift income through opaque pass-through structures. For decades, states have relied on federal audits and enforcement as a backstop, but that dependency has now become a serious liability. I suggest that states step into the vacuum by hiring former IRS partnership specialists and building dedicated partnership audit units within their own revenue departments.With relatively modest investment, states could recover revenue that would otherwise vanish into complex and lightly monitored structures. I also propose a multistate enforcement compact that would allow states to share audit resources, staff, and findings, creating a decentralized alternative to federal enforcement. The core message is that while federal capacity has been allowed to wither, the expertise still exists—and states may be the last institutions capable of preserving it.IRS Partnership Audit Brain Drain Is an Opportunity for States This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

Allen, Joel, Rosemary, and Yolanda cover major offshore wind developments on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, Ørsted’s Revolution Wind won a court victory allowing construction to resume after the Trump administration’s suspension. Meanwhile, the UK awarded contracts for 8.4 gigawatts of new offshore capacity in the largest auction in European history, with RWE securing nearly 7 gigawatts. Plus Canada’s Nova Scotia announces ambitious 40 gigawatt offshore wind plans, and the crew discusses the ongoing Denmark-Greenland tensions with the US administration. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by Strike Tape, protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit strike tape.com. And now your hosts, Alan Hall, Rosemary Barnes, Joel Saxon and Yolanda Padron. Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m Allen Hall, along with Yolanda, Joel and Rosie. Boy, a lot of action in the US courts. And as you know, for weeks, American offshore wind has been holding its breath and a lot of people’s jobs are at stake right now. The Trump administration suspended, uh, five major projects on December 22nd, and still they’re still citing national security concerns. Billions of dollars are really in balance here. Construction vessels for most of these. Sites are just doing nothing at the minute, but the courts are stepping in and Sted won a [00:01:00] key victory when the federal judge allowed its revolution wind project off the coast of Rhode Island to resume construction immediately. So everybody’s excited there and it does sound like Osted is trying to finish that project as fast as they can. And Ecuador and Dominion Energy, which are two of the other bigger projects, are fighting similar battles. Ecuador is supposed to hear in the next couple of days as we’re recording. Uh, but the message is pretty clear from developers. They have invested too much to walk away, and if they get an opportunity to wrap these projects up quickly. They are going to do it now. Joel, before the show, we were talking about vineyard wind and vineyard. Wind was on hold, and I think it, it may not even be on hold right now, I have to go back and look. But when they were put on hold, uh, the question was, the turbines that were operating, were they able to continue operating? And the answer initially I thought was no. But it was yes, the, the turbines that were [00:02:00] producing power. We’re allowed to continue to produce powers. What was in the balance were the remaining turbines that were still being installed or, uh, being upgraded. So there’s, there’s a lot going on right now, but it does seem like, and back to your earlier point, Joel, before we start talking and maybe you can discuss this, we, there is an offshore wind farm called Block Island really closely all these other wind farms, and it’s been there for four or five years at this point. No one’s said anything about that wind farm.  Speaker: I think it’s been there, to be honest with you, since like 2016 or 17. It’s been there a long time. Is it that old? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So when we were talk, when we’ve been talking through and it gets lost in the shuffle and it shouldn’t, because that’s really the first offshore wind farm in the United States. We keep talking about all these big, you know, utility scale massive things, but that is a utility scale wind farm as well. There’s fi, correct me if I’m wrong, Yolanda, is it five turbos or six? It’s five. Their decent sized turbines are sitting on jackets. They’re just, uh, they’re, they’re only a couple miles offshore. They’re not way offshore. But throughout all of these issues that we’ve had, um, with [00:03:00] these injunctions and stopping construction and stopping this and reviewing permits and all these things, block Island has just been spinning, producing power, uh, for the locals there off the coast of Rhode Island. So we. What were our, the question was is, okay, all these other wind farms that are partially constructed, have they been spinning? Are they producing power? And my mind goes to this, um, as a risk reduction effort. I wonder if, uh, the cable, if the cable lay timelines were what they were. Right. So would you now, I guess as a risk reduction effort, and this seems really silly to have to think about this. If you have your offshore substation, was the, was the main export cable connected to some of these like revolution wind where they have the injunction right now? Was that export cable connected and were the inter array cables regularly connected to turbines and them coming online? Do, do, do, do, do. Like, it wasn’t like a COD, we turned the switch and we had to wait for all 62 turbines. Right. So to our [00:04:00] knowledge and, and, uh, please reach out to any of us on LinkedIn or an email or whatever to our knowledge. The turbines that are in production have still have been spinning. It’s the construction activities that have been stopped, but now. Hey, revolution wind is 90% complete and they’re back out and running, uh, on construction activities as of today. Speaker 2: It was in the last 48 hours. So this, this is a good sign because I think as the other wind farms go through the courts, they’re gonna essentially run through this, this same judge I that. Tends to happen because they have done all the research already. So you, you likely get the same outcome for all the other wind farms, although they have to go through the process. You can’t do like a class action, at least that’s doesn’t appear to be in play at the minute. Uh, they’re all gonna have to go through this little bit of a process. But what the judge is saying essentially is the concern from the Department of War, and then the Department of Interior is. [00:05:00] Make believe. I, I don’t wanna frame it. It’s not framed that way, the way it’s written. There’s a lot more legalistic terms about it. But it basically, they’re saying they tried to stop it before they didn’t get the result they wanted. The Trump administration didn’t get the result they wanted. So the Trump administration ramped it up by saying it was something that was classified in, in part of the Department of War. The judge isn’t buying it. So the, the, the early action. I think what we initially talked about this, everybody, I think the early feeling was they’re trying to stop it, but the fact that they’re trying to stop it just because, and just start pulling permits is not gonna stand outta the court. And when they want to come back and do it again, they’re not likely to win. If they would. Kept their ammunition dry and just from the beginning said it’s something classified as something defense related that Trump administration probably would’ve had a better shot at this. But now it just seems like everything’s just gonna lead down the pathway where all these projects get finished. Speaker: Yeah, I think that specific judge probably was listening to the [00:06:00] Uptime podcast last week for his research. Um, listen to, to our opinions that we talked about here, saying that this is kind of all bs. It’s not gonna fly. Uh, but what we’re sitting at here is like Revolution Wind was, had the injunction against it. Uh, empire Wind had an injunction again, but they were awaiting a similar ruling. So hopefully that’s actually supposed to go down today. That’s Wednesday. Uh, this is, so we’re recording this on Wednesday. Um, and then Dominion is, has, is suing as well, and their, uh, hearing is on Friday. In two, two days from now. And I would expect, I mean, it’s the same, same judge, same piece of papers, like it’s going to be the same result. Some numbers to throw at this thing. Now, just so the listeners know the impact of this, uh, dominion for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, they say that their pause in construction is costing them $5 million a day, and that is. That’s a pretty round number. It’s a conservative number to be honest with you. For officer operations, how many vessels and how much stuff is out there? That makes sense. Yep. [00:07:00] 5 million. So $5 million a day. And that’s one of the wind farms. Uh, coastal, Virginia Wind Farm is an $11 billion project. With, uh, it’s like 176 turbines. I think something to that, like it’s, it’s got enough power, it’s gonna have enough production out there to power up, like, uh, like 650,000 homes when it’s done. So there’s five projects suspended right now. I’m continuing with the numbers. Um, well, five, there’s four now. Revolution’s back running, right? So five and there’s four. Uh, four still stopped. And of those five is 28. Billion dollars in combined capital at risk, right? So you can understand why some of these companies are worried, right? They’re this is, this is not peanuts. Um, so you saw a little bump in like Ted stock in the markets when this, this, uh, revolution wind, uh, injunction was stopped. Uh, but. You also see that, uh, Moody’s is a credit [00:08:00] rating. They’ve lowered ORs, Ted’s um, rating from stable to negative, given that political risk.  Speaker 2: Well, if you haven’t been paying attention, wind energy O and m Australia 2026 is happening relatively soon. It’s gonna be February 17th and 18th. It’s gonna be at the Pullman Hotel downtown Melbourne. And we are all looking forward to it. The, the roster and the agenda is, is nearly assembled at this point. Uh, we have a, a couple of last minute speakers, but uh, I’m looking at the agenda and like, wow, if you work in o and m or even are around wind turbines, this is the place to be in February. From my  Speaker: seat. It’s pretty, it’s, it’s, it’s shaping up for pretty fun. My phone has just been inundated with text message and WhatsApp of when are you traveling? What are your dates looking forward to, and I wanna say this right, Rosie. Looking forward to Melvin. Did I get it? Did I do it okay.  Speaker 3: You know how to say it.  Speaker: So, so we’re, we’re really looking forward to, we’ve got a bunch of people traveling from around the [00:09:00] world, uh, to come and share their collective knowledge, uh, and learn from the Australians about how they’re doing things, what the, what the risks are, what the problems are, uh, really looking forward to the environment down there, like we had last year was very. Collaborative, the conversations are flowing. Um, so we’re looking forward to it, uh, in a big way from our seats. Over here,  Speaker 2: we are announcing a lightning workshop, and that workshop will be answering all your lightning questions in regards to your turbines Now. Typically when we do this, it’s about $10,000 per seat, and this will be free as part of WMA 2026. We’re gonna talk about some of the lightning physics, what’s actually happening in the field versus what the OEMs are saying and what the IEC specification indicates. And the big one is force majeure. A lot of operators are paying for damages that are well within the IEC specification, and we’ll explain.[00:10:00] What that is all about and what you can do to save yourself literally millions of dollars. But that is only possible if you go to Woma 2020 six.com and register today because we’re running outta seats. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. But this is a great opportunity to get your lightning questions answered. And Rosemary promised me that we’re gonna talk about Vestus turbines. Siemens turbines. GE Renova turbines. Nordex turbines. So if you have Nordex turbines, Sulan turbines, bring the turbine. Type, we’ll talk about it. We’ll get your questions answered, and the goal is that everybody at at Wilma 2026 is gonna go home and save themselves millions of dollars in 26 and millions of dollars in 27 and all the years after, because this Lightning workshop is going to take care of those really frustrating lightning questions that just don’t get answered. We’re gonna do it right there. Sign up today.  Speaker 3: [00:11:00] You know what, I’m really looking forward to that session and especially ’cause I’ve got a couple of new staff or new-ish staff at, it’s a great way to get them up to speed on lightning. And I think that actually like the majority of people, even if you are struggling with lightning problems every day, I bet that there is a whole bunch that you could learn about the underlying physics of lightning. And there’s not so many places to find that in the world. I have looked, um, for my staff training, where is the course that I can send them to, to understand all about lightning? I know when I started atm, I had a, an intro session, one-on-one with the, you know, chief Lightning guy there. That’s not so easy to come by, and this is the opportunity where you can get that and better because it’s information about every, every OEM and a bit of a better understanding about how it works so that you can, you know, one of the things that I find working with Lightning is a lot of force MA mature claims. And then, um, the OEMs, they try and bamboozle you with this like scientific sounding talk. If you understand better, then you’ll be able to do better in those discussions. [00:12:00] So I would highly recommend attending if you can swing the Monday as well.  Speaker: If you wanna attend now and you’re coming to the events. Reach out to, you can reach out to me directly because what we want to do now is collect, uh, as much information as possible about the specific turbine types of the, that the people in the room are gonna be responsible for. So we can tailor those messages, um, to help you out directly. So feel free to reach out to me, joel.saxo, SAXU m@wglightning.com and uh, we’ll be squared away and ready to roll on Monday. I think that’s Monday the 16th.  Speaker 2: So while American offshore wind fights for survival in the courts, British offshore wind just had its biggest day ever. The United Kingdom awarded contracts for 8.4 gigawatts. That’s right. 8.4 gigawatts of new offshore wind capacity, the largest auction in European history. Holy smokes guys. The price came in at about 91 pounds per megawatt hour, and that’s 2024 pounds. [00:13:00] Uh, and that’s roughly 40% cheaper than building a new. Gas plant Energy Secretary Ed Milliband called it a monumental step towards the country’s 2030 clean power goals and that it is, uh, critics say that prices are still higher than previous auctions, and one that the government faces challenges connecting all this new capacity to the grid, and they do, uh, transmission is a limiting factor here, but in terms of where the UK is headed. Putting in gigawatts of offshore wind is going to disconnect them from a lot of need on the gas supply and other energy sources. It’s a massive auction round. This was way above what I remember being, uh. Talked about when we were in Scotland just a couple of weeks ago, Joel.  Speaker: Yeah, that’s what I was gonna say. You know, when we were, when we were up with the, or E Catapult event, and we talked to a lot of the different organizations of their OWGP and um, you know, the course, the or e Catapult folks and, and, and a [00:14:00] few others, they were really excited about AR seven. They were like, oh, we’re, we’re so excited. It’s gonna come down, it’s gonna be great. I didn’t expect these kind of numbers to come out of this thing. Right? ’cause we know that, um, they’ve got about, uh, the UK currently has about. 16 and a half or so gigawatts of offshore wind capacity, um, with, you know, they got a bunch under construction, it’s like 11 under construction, but their goal is to have 43 gigawatts by 2030. So,  Speaker 2: man.  Speaker: Yeah. And, and when 2030, put this into Conte Con context now. This is one of our first podcasts of the new year. That’s only four years away. Right. It’s soon. And, and to, to be able to do that. So you’re saying they got 16, they go some round numbers. They got 16 now. Pro producing 11 in the pipe, 11 being constructed. So get that to 27. That’s another 16 gigawatts of wind. They want, they that are not under construction today that they want to have completed in the next four years. That is a monumental effort now. We know that there’s some grid grid complications and connection [00:15:00] requirements and things that will slow that down, but just thinking about remove the grid idea, just thinking about the amount of effort to get those kind of large capital projects done in that short of timeline. Kudos to the UK ’cause they’re unlocking a lot of, um, a lot of private investment, a lot of effort to get these things, but they’re literally doing the inverse of what we’re doing in the United States right now.  Speaker 2: There would be about a total of 550, 615 ish megawatt turbines in the water. That does seem doable though. The big question is who’s gonna be providing those turbines? That’s a. Massive order. Whoever the salesperson is involved in that transaction is gonna be very happy. Well, the interesting thing here  Speaker: too is the global context of assets to be able to deliver this. We just got done talking about the troubles at these wind farms in the United States. As soon as these. Wind farms are finished. There’s not more of them coming to construction phase shortly, right? So all of these assets, all these jack up vessels, these installation vessels, these specialized cable lay vessels, they [00:16:00]can, they can fuel up and freaking head right across, back across the Atlantic and start working on these things. If the pre all of the engineering and, and the turbine deliveries are ready to roll the vessels, uh, ’cause that you, that, you know, two years ago that was a problem. We were all. Forecasting. Oh, we have this forecasted problem of a shortage of vessels and assets to be able to do installs. And now with the US kind of, basically, once we’re done with the wind farms, we’re working on offshore, now we’re shutting it down. It frees those back up, right? So the vessels will be there, be ready to roll. You’ll have people coming off of construction projects that know what’s going on, right? That, that know how to, to work these things. So the, the people, the vessels that will be ready to roll it is just, can we get the cables, the mono piles, the turbines and the cells, the blades, all done in time, uh, to make this happen And, and. I know I’m rambling now, but after leaving that or e Catapult event and talking to some of the people, um, that are supporting those [00:17:00] funds over there, uh, being injected from the, uh, the government, I think that they’ve got  Speaker 2: the, the money flowing over there to get it done too. The big winner in the auction round was RWE and they. Almost seven gigawatts. So that was a larger share of the 8.4 gigawatts. RWE obviously has a relationship with Vestus. Is that where this is gonna go? They’re gonna be, uh, installing vestus turbines. And where were those tur turbines? As I was informed by Scottish gentlemen, I won’t name names. Uh, will those turbines be built in the uk? Speaker 3: It’s a lot. It’s a, it’s one of the biggest challenges with, um, the supply chain for wind energy is that it just is so lumpy. So, you know, you get, um, uh. You get huge eight gigawatts all at once and then you have years of, you know, just not much. Not much, not much going on. I mean, for sure they’re not gonna be just building [00:18:00] eight gigawatts worth of, um, wind turbines in the UK in the next couple of years because they would also have to build the capacity to manufacture that and, and then would wanna be building cocks every couple of years for, you know, the next 10 or 20 years. So, yeah, of course they’re gonna be manufacturing. At facilities around the world and, and transporting them. But, um, yeah, I just, I don’t know. It’s one of the things that I just. Constantly shake my head about is like, how come, especially when projects are government supported, when plans are government supported, why, why can’t we do a better job of smoothing things out so that you can have, you know, for example, local manufacturing because everyone knows that they’ve got a secure pipeline. It’s just when the government’s involved, it should be possible.  Speaker 2: At least the UK has been putting forth some. Pretty big numbers to support a local supply chain. When we were over in Scotland, they announced 300 million pounds, and that was just one of several. That’s gonna happen over the next year. There will be a [00:19:00] near a billion pounds be put into the supply chain, which will make a dramatic difference. But I think you’re right. Also, it’s, they’re gonna ramp up and then they, it’s gonna ramp down. They have to find a way to feed the global marketplace at some point, be because the technology and the people are there. It’s a question of. How do you sustain it for a 20, 30 year period? That’s a different question. Speaker 3: I do agree that the UK is doing a better job than probably anybody else. Um, it it’s just that they, the way that they have chosen to organize these auctions and the government support and the planning just means that they have that, that this is the perfect conditions to, you know. Make a smooth rollout and you know, take care of all this. And so I just a bit frustrated that they’re not doing more. But you are right that they’re doing the best probably  Speaker 4: once all of these are in service though, aren’t there quite a bit of aftermarket products that are available in the UK  Speaker: on the service then? I think there’s more.  Speaker 4: Which, I mean, that’s good. A good part of it, right? Speaker: If we’re talking Vestas, so, so let’s just round this [00:20:00] up too. If we’re talking vest’s production for blades in Europe, you have two facilities in Denmark that build V 2 36 blades. You have one facility in Italy that builds V 2 36 blades, Taiwan, but they build them for the APAC market. Of course. Um, Poland had a, has one on hold right now, V 2 36 as well. Well, they just bought that factory from LM up in Poland also. That’s, but I think that’s for onshore term, onshore blades. Oh, yes, sure. And then Scotland has, they have the proposed facility in, in Laith. That there, that’s kind of on hold as well. So if that one’s proposed, I’m sure, hey, if we get a big order, they’ll spin that up quick because they’ll get, I am, I would imagine someone o you know, one of the, one of the funds to spool up a little bit of money, boom, boom, boom. ’cause they’re turning into local jobs. Local supply  Speaker 2: chain does this then create the condition where a lot of wind turbines, like when we were in Scotland, a lot of those wind turbines are. Gonna reach 20 years old, maybe a little bit older here over the next five years where they will [00:21:00] need to be repowered upgraded, whatever’s gonna happen there. If you had internal manufacturing. In country that would, you’d think lower the price to go do that. That will be a big effort just like it is in Spain right now.  Speaker: The trouble there though too, is if you’re using local content in, in the uk, the labor prices are so much  Speaker 2: higher. I’m gonna go back to Rosie’s point about sort of the way energy is sold worldwide. UK has high energy prices, mostly because they are buying energy from other countries and it’s expensive to get it in country. So yes, they can have higher labor prices and still be lower cost compared to the alternatives. It, it’s not the same equation in the US versus uk. It’s, it’s totally different economics, but. If they get enough power generation, which I think the UK will, they’re gonna offload that and they’re already doing it now. So you can send power to France, send power up [00:22:00] north. There’s ways to sell that extra power and help pay for the system you built. That would make a a lot of sense. It’s very similar to what the Saudis have done for. Dang near 80 years, which is fill tankers full of oil and sell it. This is a little bit different that we’re just sending electrons through the water to adjacent European countries. It does seem like a plan. I hope they’re sending ’em through a cable in the water and not just into the water. Well, here’s the thing that was concerning early on. They’re gonna turn it into hydrogen and put it on a ship and send it over to France. Like that didn’t make any sense at all. Uh. Cable’s on the way to do it. Right.  Speaker: And actually, Alan, you and I did have a conversation with someone not too long ago about that triage market and how the project where they put that, that that trans, that HVDC cable next to the tunnel it, and it made and it like paid for itself in a year or something. Was that like, that they didn’t wanna really tell us like, yeah, it paid for itself in a year. Like it was a, the ROI was like on a, like a $500 million [00:23:00]project or something. That’s crazy. Um, but yeah, that’s the same. That’s, that is, I would say part of the big push in the uk there is, uh, then they can triage that power and send it, send it back across. Um, like I think Nord Link is the, the cable between Peterhead and Norway, right? So you have, you have a triage market going across to the Scandinavian countries. You have the triage market going to mainland eu. Um, and in when they have big time wind, they’re gonna be able to do it. So when you have an RWE. Looking at seven gigawatts of, uh, possibility that they just, uh, just procured. Game on. I love it. I think it’s gonna be cool. I’m, I’m happy to see it blow  Speaker 2: up. Canada is getting serious about offshore wind and international developers are paying attention. Q Energy, France and its South Korean partner. Hawa Ocean have submitted applications to develop wind projects off Nova Scotia’s Coast. The province has big ambitions. Premier, Tim Houston wants to license enough. Offshore [00:24:00] wind to produce 40 gigawatts of power far more than Nova Scotia would ever need. Uh, the extra electricity could supply more than a quarter of Canada’s total demand. If all goes according to plan, the first turbines could be spinning by 2035. Now, Joel. Yeah, some of this power will go to Canada, but there’s a huge market in the United States also for this power and the capacity factor up in Nova Scotia offshore is really good. Yeah. It’s uh, it  Speaker: is simply, it’s stellar, right? Uh, that whole No, Nova Scotia, new Brunswick, Newfoundland, that whole e even Maritimes of Canada. The wind, the wind never stops blowing, right? Like I, I go up there every once in a while ’cause my wife is from up there and, uh, it’s miserable sometimes even in the middle of summer. Um, so the, the wind resource is fantastic. The, it, it is a boom or will be a boom for the Canadian market, right? There’re always [00:25:00] that maritime community, they’re always looking for, for, uh, new jobs. New jobs, new jobs. And this is gonna bring them to them. Um, one thing I wanna flag here is when I know this, when this announcement came out. And I reached out to Tim Houston’s office to try to get him on the podcast, and I haven’t gotten a response yet. Nova Scotia. So if someone that’s listening can get ahold of Tim Houston, we’d love to talk to him about the plans for Nova Scotia. Um, but, but we see that just like we see over overseas, the triage market of we’re making power, we can sell it. You know, we balance out the prices, we can sell it to other places. From our seats here we’ve been talking about. The electricity demand on the east coast of the United States for, for years and how it is just climbing, climbing, climbing, especially AI data centers. Virginia is a hub of this, right? They need power and we’re shooting ourselves in the foot, foot for offshore wind, plus also canceling pipelines and like there’s no extra generation going on there except for some solar plants where you can squeeze ’em in down in the Carolinas and whatnot. [00:26:00] There is a massive play here for the Canadians to be able to HVD see some power down to us. Speaker 2: The offshore conditions off the coast of Nova Scotia are pretty rough, and the capacity factor being so high makes me think of some of the Brazilian wind farms where the capacity factor is over 50%. It’s amazing down there, but one of the outcomes of that has been early turbine problems. And I’m wondering if the Nova Scotia market is going to demand a different kind of turbine that is specifically built for those conditions. It’s cold, really cold. It’s really windy. There’s a lot of moisture in the air, right? So the salt is gonna be bad. Uh, and then the sea life too, right? There’s a lot of, uh, sea life off the coast of the Nova Scotia, which everybody’s gonna be concerned about. Obviously, as this gets rolling. How do we think about this? And who’s gonna be the manufacturer of turbines for Canada? Is it gonna be Nordics? Well,  Speaker: let’s start from the ground up there. So from the or ground up, it’s, how about sea [00:27:00] floor up? Let’s start from there. There is a lot of really, really, if you’ve ever worked in the offshore world, the o offshore, maritime Canadian universities that focus on the, on offshore construction, they produce some of the best engineers for those markets, right? So if you go down to Houston, Texas where there’s offshore oil and gas companies and engineering companies everywhere, you run into Canadians from the Maritimes all over the place ’cause they’re really good at what they do. Um, they are developing or they have developed offshore oil and gas platforms. Off of the coast of Newfoundland and up, up in that area. And there’s some crazy stuff you have to compete with, right? So you have icebergs up there. There’s no icebergs in the North Atlantic that like, you know, horn seats, internet cruising through horn C3 with icebergs. So they’ve, they’ve engineered and created foundations and things that can deal with that, those situations up there. But you also have to remember that you’re in the Canadian Shield, which is, um, the Canadian Shield is a geotechnical formation, right? So it’s very rocky. Um, and it’s not [00:28:00] like, uh, the other places where we’re putting fixed bottom wind in where you just pound the piles into the sand. That’s not how it’s going to go, uh, up in Canada there. So there’s some different engineering that’s going to have to take place for the foundations, but like you said, Alan Turbine specific. It blows up there. Right. And we have seen onshore, even in the United States, when you get to areas that have high capacity burning out main bearings, burning out generators prematurely because the capacity factor is so high and those turbines are just churning. Um, I, I don’t know if any of the offshore wind turbine manufacturers are adjusting any designs specifically for any markets. I, I just don’t know that. Um, but they may run into some. Some tough stuff up there, right? You might run into some, some overspeeding main bearings and some maintenance issues, specifically in the wintertime ’cause it is nasty up there. Speaker 2: Well, if you have 40 gigawatts of capacity, you have several thousand turbines, you wanna make sure really [00:29:00] sure that the blade design is right, that the gearbox is right if you have a gearbox, and that everything is essentially over-designed, heated. You can have deicing systems on it, I would assume that would be something you would be thinking about. You do the same thing for the monopoles. The whole assembly’s gotta be, have a, just a different thought process than a turbine. You would stick off the coast of Germany. Still rough conditions at times, but not like Nova Scotia.  Speaker: One, one other thing there to think about too that we haven’t dealt with, um. In such extreme levels is the, the off the coast of No. Nova Scotia is the Bay of Fundee. If you know anything about the Bay of Fundee, it is the highest tide swings in the world. So the tide swings at certain times of the year, can be upwards of 10 meters in a 12 hour period in this area of, of the ocean. And that comes with it. Different time, different types of, um, one of the difficult things for tide swings is it creates subsid currents. [00:30:00] Subsid currents are, are really, really, really bad, nasty. Against rocks and for any kind of cable lay activities and longevity of cable lay scour protection around turbines and stuff like that. So that’s another thing that subsea that we really haven’t spoke about.  Speaker 3: You know, I knew when you say Bay Bay of funding, I’m like, I know that I have heard that place before and it’s when I was researching for. Tidal power videos for Tidal Stream. It’s like the best place to, to generate electricity from. Yeah, from Tidal Stream. So I guess if you are gonna be whacking wind turbines in there anyway, maybe you can share some infrastructure and Yeah. Eca a little bit, a little bit more from your, your project.  Speaker 2: that wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas. We’d love to hear from you. Just reach out to us on LinkedIn and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you found value in today’s conversation, please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show For Rosie, Yolanda and Joel, I’m Alan Hall, and we’ll see you here next week on the Uptime [00:36:00] Wind Energy Podcast.

This Day in Legal History: 18th Amendment to the US ConstitutionOn January 16, 1919, the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, marking a pivotal moment in American legal history by establishing the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. The amendment prohibited “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” for consumption in the United States and its territories. It was the culmination of decades of temperance activism, led by organizations such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League, which argued that alcohol was responsible for societal problems including crime, poverty, and domestic violence.The amendment passed Congress in December 1917, but ratification by the states was required for it to take effect. That threshold was reached on January 16, 1919, when Nebraska became the 36th state to ratify it. One year later, on January 17, 1920, the Volstead Act—the federal statute enforcing the amendment—went into effect, ushering in the Prohibition era.However, the law led to unintended consequences. Rather than curbing alcohol consumption, it fueled the rise of organized crime, as bootleggers and speakeasies flourished across the country. Enforcement proved difficult and inconsistent, and public support for prohibition waned through the 1920s.Ultimately, the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment on December 5, 1933, making it the only constitutional amendment ever to be entirely repealed. The legacy of the 18th Amendment remains significant as a historical experiment in moral legislation and the limits of constitutional power.A federal judge in Virginia will soon decide whether Dominion Energy can resume construction on its $11.2 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which was halted by the Trump administration last month. The Interior Department paused five offshore wind projects on December 22, citing classified concerns about radar interference and national security. Dominion is now challenging that pause in court, arguing that it violated procedural and due process laws and is causing the company significant financial harm—around $5 million in daily losses. Dominion has already invested nearly $9 billion in the project, which began construction in 2023 and is planned to power 600,000 homes.Similar legal challenges from other developers, including Orsted and Equinor, have already succeeded in federal courts in Washington, allowing their Northeast offshore wind projects to proceed. Those decisions raise the stakes for Dominion's case, which could influence the broader offshore wind industry amid continued hostility from the Trump administration toward the sector. Trump has long criticized wind energy as costly and inefficient. While the outcomes of these lawsuits may let projects move forward, industry uncertainty remains due to ongoing legal battles and political opposition.US judge to weigh Dominion request to restart Virginia offshore wind project stopped by Trump | ReutersA federal judge in Boston, William Young, said he will issue an order to protect non-citizen academics involved in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's deportation of pro-Palestinian student activists. The upcoming order would block the government from altering the immigration status of the scholars who are parties to the case, absent court approval. Young emphasized that any such action would be presumed retaliatory and would require the administration to prove it had a legitimate basis.The lawsuit stems from Trump's executive orders in early 2025 directing agencies to crack down on antisemitism, which led to arrests and visa cancellations for several students, including Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk. These moves targeted those expressing pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel views on campus. Young previously ruled that these actions violated the First Amendment by chilling free speech rights of non-citizen academics.In his comments, Young described Trump as “authoritarian” and sharply criticized what he called the administration's “fearful approach to freedom.” He limited his forthcoming order to members of academic groups like the AAUP and Middle East Studies Association, rejecting a broader nationwide block as too expansive. Meanwhile, the administration, which plans to appeal Young's earlier ruling, accused the judge of political bias.US judge to shield scholars who challenged deporting of pro-Palestinian campus activists | ReutersA federal judge in California has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department seeking access to the state's full, unredacted voter registration list. Judge David Carter ruled that the department's claims were not strong enough under existing civil rights and voting laws, and that turning over detailed voter data—such as names, birth dates, driver's license numbers, and parts of Social Security numbers—would violate privacy protections.Carter emphasized that centralizing such sensitive information at the federal level could intimidate voters and suppress turnout by making people fear misuse of their personal data. The lawsuit, filed in September by the Trump administration, targeted California and other Democrat-led states for allegedly failing to properly maintain voter rolls, citing federal law as justification for demanding the data.California Secretary of State Shirley Weber welcomed the decision, stating her commitment to defending voting rights and opposing the administration's actions. The DOJ had reportedly been in discussions with the Department of Homeland Security to use voter data in criminal and immigration probes. Critics argue the push was driven by baseless claims from Trump and his allies that non-citizens are voting in large numbers.US judge dismisses Justice Department lawsuit seeking California voter details | ReutersWhy can't people harmed by ICE just sue the agents themselves?U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal agency under the Department of Homeland Security, created in 2003. It enforces immigration laws and investigates criminal activities involving border control, customs, and immigration. ICE derives its authority from various federal statutes, including the Immigration and Nationality Act, and its agents operate with broad discretion during enforcement actions.Suing ICE agents or the agency itself is legally difficult. Individuals cannot usually sue federal agents directly because of sovereign immunity, a legal doctrine that protects the government and its employees from lawsuits unless explicitly allowed by law. One such exception is the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) of 1946, which permits lawsuits against the federal government when its employees cause injury or damage while acting within the scope of their employment. Under the FTCA, victims can bring wrongful death or negligence claims, as Renee Good's family is now considering.However, FTCA claims are limited. Plaintiffs cannot seek punitive damages or a jury trial, and compensation is capped based on state law where the incident occurred. The government is also shielded from liability for discretionary decisions made by its employees—meaning if the ICE agent used judgment during the incident and it's deemed reasonable, the claim can be dismissed. In Good's case, the government will likely argue self-defense.Suing ICE agents personally is even harder. The Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents case in 1971 created a narrow legal path for suing federal officials for constitutional violations, but courts have since restricted its use. In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that Bivens does not apply to border agents conducting immigration enforcement, further insulating ICE officers from personal liability.Criminal prosecution of federal agents is also rare. State prosecutors may bring charges, but only if they can prove the agent acted clearly outside the scope of their duties and in an objectively unlawful way—a high bar that is seldom met.This week's closing theme is by Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven, one of the most influential composers in Western music history, revolutionized the classical tradition with works that bridged the Classical and Romantic eras.This week's theme is Franz Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 — specifically, the first movement, Allegro con brio, catalogued as S.464/5. As one of the most iconic works in classical music, Beethoven's Fifth needs little introduction, but hearing it through Liszt's fingers offers a fresh perspective on its brilliance. In this solo piano version, Liszt doesn't simply condense Beethoven's orchestral power—he reimagines it, capturing the storm, structure, and spirit of the original with astonishing fidelity and virtuosity.The movement begins with the unforgettable four-note “fate” motif, its rhythmic insistence rendered on the piano with punch and precision. From there, Liszt unfolds Beethoven's dramatic argument, demanding the pianist conjure the textures of a full orchestra with nothing but ten fingers and a well-calibrated pedal. Every surging crescendo, sudden silence, and harmonic twist remains intact, though filtered through Liszt's Romantic sensibility and pianistic imagination.It's a piece that asks as much of the performer as it does of the listener—requiring clarity, power, and emotional depth. As a transcription, it's both a tribute and a transformation, placing Beethoven's revolutionary energy in the hands of a single interpreter. We chose this movement not just for its fame, but for how it exemplifies two musical giants in dialogue—Beethoven, the architect of modern symphonic form, and Liszt, the artist who made the orchestra speak through the piano.Without further ado, Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 — the first movement, Allegro con brio. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

Allen, Joel, Rosemary, and Yolanda discuss the ongoing federal halt on US offshore wind projects and mounting lawsuits from Equinor, Ørsted, and Dominion Energy. Plus Japan’s Goto floating wind farm begins commercial operation with eight Hitachi turbines on hybrid SPAR-type foundations, and Finnish investigators seize a vessel suspected of severing Baltic Sea cables. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by Strike Tape, protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit striketape.com. And now your hosts, Allen Hall, Rosemary Barnes, Joel Saxum and Yolanda Padron. Welcome to the  Allen Hall: Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m your host, Alan Hall. I’m here with Rosie Barnes, Joel Saxum, and Yolanda Padron. Many things on the docket this week. The, the big one is the five US offshore wind projects that are facing cancellation after the federal halt. And on December 22nd, as we all know, the US Department of Interior ordered construction halted on every offshore wind project in American waters. Uh, the recent given and still given is national security. Uh, developers see it way differently and they’ve been going to court to try to. Get this issue resolved. Ecuador, Ted and Dominion Energy have all filed lawsuits at this point. EOR says [00:01:00] a 90 day pause, which is what this is right now, will likely mean cancellation of their empire. Project Dominion is losing more than about $5 million a day, and everybody is watching to see what happens. Orton’s also talking about taking some action here. Uh, there’s a, a lot of moving pieces. Essentially, as it stands right now, a lot of lawsuits, nothing happening in the water, and now talks mostly Ecuador of just completely canceling the project. That will have big implications to US. Electricity along the east coast,  Joel Saxum: right Joel? Yeah. We need it. Right? So I, I hate to beat a dead horse here because we’ve been talking about this for so long. Um, but. We’ve got energy demand growth, right? We’re sitting at three to 5% year on year demand growth in the United States, uh, which is unprecedented. Since, since, and this is a crazy thing. Since air [00:02:00] conditioning was invented for residential homes, we have not had this much demand for electricity growth. We’ve been pretty flat for the last 20 years. Uh, so we need it, right? We wanna be the AI data center superpower. We wanna do all this stuff. So we need electrons. Uh, these electrons are literally the quickest thing gonna be on the grid. Uh, up and down that whole eastern seaboard, which is a massive population center, a massive industrial and commercial center of the United States, and now we’re cutting the cord on ’em. Uh, so it is going to drive prices up for all consumers. That is a reality, right? Um, so we, we hear campaign promises up and down the things about making life more affordable for the. Joe Schmo on the street. Um, this is gonna hurt that big time. We’re already seeing. I think it was, um, we, Alan, you and I talked with some people from PGM not too long ago, and they were saying 20 to 30% increases already early this year. Allen Hall: Yeah. The, the increases in electricity rates are not being driven by [00:03:00] offshore wind. You see that in the press constantly or in commentary. The reason electricity rates are going up along the east coast is because they’re paying for. The early shutdown of cold fire generation, older generation, uh, petroleum based, uh, dirty, what I’ll call dirty electricity generation, they’re paying to shut those sites down early. So that’s why your rates are going up. Putting offshore wind into the equation will help lower some of those costs, and onshore wind and solar will help lower those costs. But. The East Coast, especially the Northeast, doesn’t have a lot of that to speak of at the minute. So, uh, Joel, my question is right now, what do you think the likelihood is of the lawsuits that are being filed moving within the next 90 days? Joel Saxum: I mean, it takes a long time to put anything through any kind of, um, judicial process in the United States, however. There’s enough money, power [00:04:00] in play here that what I see this as is just like the last time we saw an injunction happen like this is, it’s more of a posturing move. I have the power to do this, or we have the power to do this. It’s, it’s, uh, the, it’s to get power. Over some kind of decision making process. So once, once people come to the table and start talking, I think these things will be let, let back loose. Uh, I don’t, I don’t think it will go all the way to, we need to have lawsuits and stuff. It’ll just be the threat of lawsuits. There’ll be a little bit of arbitration. They’ll go back to work. Um, the problem that I see. One of the problems, I guess, is if we get to the point where people, companies start saying like, you know what, we can’t do this anymore. Like, we can’t keep having these breaks, these pauses, these, this, you know, if it’s 90 days at $5 million a day, I mean that’s 450 million bucks. That’s crazy. But that nobody, nobody could absorb that.  Allen Hall: Will they leave the mono piles and transition pieces and some [00:05:00] towers just sitting in the water. That’s what  Joel Saxum: I was gonna say next is. What happens to all of the assets, all of the steel that’s in the water, all the, all the, if there’s cable, it lays if there’s been rock dumps or the companies liable to go pick them up. I don’t know what the contracts look like, right? I don’t know what the Boem leases say. I don’t know about those kind of things, but most of that stuff is because they go back to the oil field side of things, right? You have a 20 year lease at the end of your 20 year lease. You gotta clean it up. So if you put the things in the water, do they have 20 years to leave ’em out there before they plan on how they’re gonna pull ’em out or they gotta pull ’em out now? I don’t know.  Allen Hall: Would just bankrupt the LLCs that they formed to create these, uh, wind  Joel Saxum: farms. That’s how the oil field does it bankrupt. The LC move on. You’ve, you’ve more than likely paid a bond when you, you signed that lease and that, but that bond in like in a lot of. Things is not enough. Right. A bond to pull mono piles out would have to be, [00:06:00] I mean, you’re already at billions of dollars there, right? So, and, and if you look again to the oil and gas world, which is our nearest mirror to what happens here, when you go and decommission an old oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, you don’t pull the mono piles out. You go down to as close to the sea floor as you can get, and you just cut ’em off with a diamond saw. So it’s just like a big clamp that goes around. It’s like a big band saw. And you cut the foundations off and then pull the steel back to shore, so that can be done. Um, it’s not cheap.  Allen Hall: You know what I would, what I would do is the model piles are in, the towers are up, and depending on what’s on top of them, whether it’s in the cell or whatever, I would sure as hell put the red flashing lights on top and I would turn those things on and let ’em run just so everybody along the East coast would know that there could be power coming out of these things. But there’s not. So if you’re gonna look at their red flashy lights, you might as well get some, uh, megawatts out of them. That’s what I would do.  Joel Saxum: You’d have to wonder if the contracts, what, what, what it says in the contracts about. [00:07:00] Uh, utilization of this stuff, right? So if there’s something out there, does the FAA say, if you got a tower out there, it’s gotta have a light on it anyways. Allen Hall: It has to or a certain height. So where’s the power coming from? I don’t know. Solar panel. Solar panel. That’s what it have to be, right? Yeah. This is ridiculous. But this is the world we live in today.  Speaker 4: Australia’s wind farms are growing fast, but are your operations keeping up? Join us February 17th and 18th at Melbourne’s Pullman on the park for Wind energy o and M Australia 2026, where you’ll connect with the experts solving real problems in maintenance asset management. And OEM relations. Walk away with practical strategies to cut costs and boost uptime that you can use the moment you’re back on site. Register now at W OM a 2020 six.com. Wind Energy o and m Australia is created by wind professionals for wind professionals. Because this industry needs solutions, not speeches, [00:08:00] Allen Hall: the dominoes keep falling. In American offshore wind, last year it was construction halts this year, contract delays. Massachusetts has pushed back the signing of two offshore wind agreements that were supposed to be done. Months ago, ocean Winds and Berroa won their bids in September of 2024. The paperwork is still unsigned more than a year later, a year and a half later. State officials blame Federal uncertainty. Uh, the new target is June and offshore wind for these delays are really becoming a huge problem, especially if you don’t have an offtake agreements signed, Joel.  Joel Saxum: I don’t see how the, I mean, again, I’m not sitting in those rooms. I’m not a fly on the wall there, but I don’t see how you can have something sitting out there for, it’s just say September 24. Yeah. Yeah. You’re at 18 months now, right? 17, 18 months without an agreement signed. Why is, why is Massachusetts doing this? What’s, what’s the, what’s the thing there? I mean, you’re an, [00:09:00] you are, uh, an ex Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Ian, is that what it’s called?  Allen Hall: Yeah. I, I think they would like to be able to change the pricing for the offtake is most likely what is happening as, uh, the Trump administration changes the agreements or trying to change the agreements, uh, the price can go up or down. So maybe the thing to do is to not sign it and wait this out to see what the courts say. Maybe something will happen in your favor. That’s a real shame. Right. Uh, there’s thousands of employees that have been sidelined. Uh, the last number I saw was around 4,000. That seems on the low end.  Joel Saxum: Yeah. I think about, um, the, the vessels too. Like you’re the, like the Eco Edison that was just built last year. I think it’s upwards of 500 million bucks or something to build that thing down in Louisiana, being sent up there. And you have all these other specialized, uh, vessels coming over from Europe to do all this construction. Um, you know. Of course if they’re coming over from Europe, those are being hot bunked and being paid standby rates, which [00:10:00] is crazy ’cause the standby rates are insane. Uh, ’cause you still gotta run fuel, you still gotta keep the thing running. You still gotta cook food. You still have all those things that have to happen on that offshore vessel. Uh, but they’re just gonna be sitting out there on DP doing nothing.  Yolanda Padron: You have the vessels, you have people’s jobs. You have. Regular people who are unrelated to energy at all suffering because of their prices going up for energy and just their cost of living overall going up. All because they don’t look pretty.  Joel Saxum: Yeah. The entire, that entire supply chain is suffering. I mean, Yolanda, you’re, you, you used to work with a company involved in offshore wind. How many people have, um, you know, have we seen across LinkedIn losing their jobs? Hey, we’re pivoting away from this. I gotta go find something else. And with that. In the United States, if you’re not from the States, you don’t know this, but there’s not that much wind, onshore wind on the East coast. So many of those families had to relocate out there, uproot your family, go out to Massachusetts, New Jersey, [00:11:00] Virginia, wherever, put roots back down and now you’re what? What happens? You gotta move back.  Yolanda Padron: Good luck to you. Especially, I mean, you know, it’s, it’s a lot of projects, right? So it’s not like you can just move on to the next wind farm. It’s a really unfortunate situation.  Allen Hall: Well, for years the promise of floating wind turbines has dangled just out of reach and the technology works, and the engineers have been saying for quite a while. We just needed someone to prove it at scale. Well, Japan just did the go-to floating wind farm began commercial operation this past week. Eight turbines on hybrid spar foundations anchored in water is too deep for anything fixed. Bottom, uh, it’s the first. Wind farm of his kind in Japan and signals to the rest of Asia that floating wind is possible. Now, uh, Rosemary, their turbines that are being used are Hitachi turbines, 2.1 megawatt machines. I don’t know a lot about this hybrid spark [00:12:00] type floater technology, which looks to be relatively new in terms of application. Is this gonna open up a large part of the Japanese shoreline to offshore wind? Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, I mean, at the first glance it’s like two megawatt turbine turbines. That’s micro, even for onshore these days, that’s a really small turbine. Um, and for offshore, you know, usually when you hear about offshore announcements, it’s like 20 megawatt, 40 megawatt monstrosities. However, I, I think that if you just look at the size of it, then it really underestimates the significance of it, especially for Japan. Because they, one, don’t have a lot of great space to put turbines on shore or solar power on shore. Um, and two, they don’t have any, any good, um, locations for fixed bottom offshore. So this is not like this floating offshore wind farm. It’s not competing against many onshore um, options at all. For Japan, it’s competing against energy imports. I’m really happy to see [00:13:00] a proper wind farm. Um, in Japan and they’ll learn a lot from this. And I hope that it goes smoothly and that, you know, the next one can be bigger and better. And then it’s also, you know, Japan traditionally has been a really great manufacturing country and not so much with wind energy, but this could be their chance. If they’re the country that’s really on scale developing the floating offshore industry, they will necessarily, you know, like just naturally as a byproduct of that, they’re gonna develop manufacturing, at least supporting manufacturing and probably. Some major components and then bring down the cost. You know, the more that, um, these early projects might start out expensive, but get cheaper, fast. That’s how we hope it’ll go. And then they’ll push out into other areas that could benefit from offshore wind, but um, not at the cost. Somewhere like California, you know, they have the ability to have onshore wind. They’d really like some offshore wind, some floating offshore wind. But it is a hard sell there at the moment because it is so much more expensive. But if it gets cheaper because, you know, projects like [00:14:00] this help push the price down, then I think it will open things up a lot. So yeah, I am, I’m quite excited to see this project.  Allen Hall: Will it get cheaper at the two to six megawatt range instead of the 15 to 20 megawatt range?  Joel Saxum: That’s what I was gonna comment on. Like there’s, there’s a, there’s a key here that the general public misses. For a floating offshore wind farm. So if you’re gonna do this cost effectively, that’s why they did it with the 2.1 megawatts ones because with a, with the spar product that they’re using basically. And, and I was sourcing this off at my desk, so here you go,  Rosemary Barnes: Joel. We need a closed caption version for those listening on the podcast and not watching on YouTube. Joel’s holding like a foam, a foam model of a wind turbine. Looks like it’s got a stubby, stubby holder on the bottom.  Joel Saxum: This is. Turbine. Steel. Steel to a transition piece and then concrete, right? So this is basically a concrete tube like, um, with, with, uh, structural members on the inside of it. And you can float this thing or you can drag these, you can float ’em key side and then drag ’em out, and [00:15:00] then it just fill ’em halfway or three quarters away with ballast sea seawater. So you just open a valve, fill the thing up to three quarters of the way with seawater, and it sinks it down into the water a little bit. Water level sits about. Right at the transition piece and then it’s stable. And that’s a hybrid. Spar product is very simple. So to make this a easy demonstrate project, keyside facility is the key, is the big thing. So your Keyside facility, and you need a deep water keyside facility to make this easy. So if you go up to Alan, like you said, a two to six, to eight to 10 to 15 megawatt machine. You may have to go and take, you may have to barge the spars out and then dump ’em off the spar and then bring the turbines out and put ’em on. That’s not ideal. Right? But if you can do this all keyside, if you can have a crane on shore and you can float the spars and then put the, build the whole turbine, and then drag that out as it sits, that’s a huge cost reduction in the installation operations. So it, it’s all about how big is the subsea portion of the spar? How? How deep is your [00:16:00] deep water keyside port? To make it efficient to build. Right. So they’re looking at 10 gigawatts of floating offshore wind by 2030. Now it’s 2026. That’s only four years away, so 10 gigawatts. You’re gonna have to scale up the size of the turbines. It’ll be interesting how they do it, right? Because to me, flipping spars off of a barge is not that hard. That’s how jackets and spars have been installed in the past. Um, for, um, many industries, construction industries, whether it’s oil and gas or just maritime, construction can be done. Not a problem. Um, it’s just not as efficient. So we’ll see what, we’ll see what they do.  Allen Hall: You would need 5,000 turbines at two megawatts to get to 10 gigawatts, 5,000 turbines. They make 5,000 cars in a day. The, the Japanese manufacturing is really efficient. I wouldn’t put anything by the Japanese capabilities there.  Joel Saxum: The problem with that is the cost of the, the inter array cables and [00:17:00] export cables for 5,000 turbines is extreme. Allen Hall: We also know that. Some of the best technology has come out of Japan for the last 50 years, and then maybe there’s a solution to it. I, I’m really curious to see where this goes, because it’s a Hitachi turbine. It’s a 2.1 megawatt turbine, as Rosemary’s pointed out. That’s really old technology, but it is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to move around. Has benefits.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah. It also means like they, they’re not gonna be surprised with like, you know, all of. When you make a 20 megawatt offshore wind turbine, you’re not only in the offshore environment, you’re also dealing with, you know, all your blade issues from a blade that long and 2.1 megawatt turbine has blades of the size that, you know, just so mature, reliable, robust. They can at least rule those headaches out of their, um, you know, out of their. Development phase and focus on the, the new stuff.  Joel Saxum: Does anybody know who [00:18:00] makes blades for Hitachi?  Allen Hall: Rosie? Was it lm? I, I, I know we have on a number of Hitachi turbines over time, but I don’t know who makes the blades.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, I don’t know. But I mean, also it’s like, um, it doesn’t mean that they’re locked into 2.1 megawatts for forever, right? So, um, if the economics suggest that it is be beneficial to scale up. Presumably there will be a lot that they have learned from the smaller scale that will be de-risking the, the bigger ones as well. So, you know, um, it’s, there’s advantages to doing it both ways. It’s probably a slower, more steady progress from starting small and incrementally increasing compared to the, you know, like big, um, fail fast kind of, um, approach where you just do a big, big, huge turbine and just find out everything wrong with it all at once. Um, but. You know, pros and cons to both.  Allen Hall: Hitachi buys TPI. They got the money. They got the money, and they got the brain power. [00:19:00] Delamination and bottom line. Failures and blades are difficult problems to detect early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. C-I-C-N-D-T are specialists to detect these critical flaws before they become expensive burdens. Their non-destructive test technology penetrates deep to blade materials to find voids and cracks. Traditional inspections completely. Miss C-I-C-N-D-T Maps. Every critical defect delivers actionable reports and provides support to get your blades back in service. So visit cic ndt.com because catching blade problems early will save you millions. The Baltic Sea has become a chessboard under sea. Cables carry data. Pipelines carry energy as we’ve all seen and someone keeps cutting them. Finnish investigators are now saying a cargo ship dragged its anchor [00:20:00] across the seabed for tens of kilometers before severing a telecommunications cable. On New Year’s Eve, special forces seize the vessel. Four crew members are detained, but the questions still remain. Who or what is trying to cut cables and pipelines at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.  Joel Saxum: It’s not accidents like it happened on New Year’s Eve and it was, and you drug an anchor for tens of kilometers. That’s on purpose. There’s, there’s no way that this is someone, oh, we forgot to pull the anchor up. You know how much more throttle you have to put on one of these? Have you seen an anchor for an offshore vessel? They’re the size of a fricking house,  Allen Hall: so they’re investigating it right now. And four, the 14 crew members are under detention. Travel restrictions, we’ll see how long that lasts. Crew includes nationals from of all places, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. So there is a, a Russian element to this. [00:21:00] I don’t know if you were all watching, I don’t know, a week or two ago when there’s a YouTube video from and oral, which makes undersea. Equipment and defense, uh, related, uh, products. And Palmer Lucky who runs that company basically said, there are microphones all over the bottom of the ocean, all around the world. Everything is monitored. There’s no way you can drag an anchor for a kilometer without somebody knowing. So I’m a little surprised this took so long to grab hold of, but. Maybe the New Year’s Eve, uh, was a good time to pick because everybody is kind of relaxed and not thinking about a ship, dragging an anchor and breaking telecommunication cables, wind turbines have to be really careful about this. There, there have to be some sort of monitoring, installation sensors that are going on around the, all the wind power that exists up in that region and all [00:22:00] the way down in, in the North Sea. To prevent this from happening, the sabotage is ridiculous. At this point,  Joel Saxum: yeah. I mean, even, even with mattresses over the export cables, or the inter array cables or, or rock bags or rock dumps or, or burials, these anchors are big enough to, to cut those, to drag and cut ’em like it, it’s just a, it’s a reality. It’s a risk. But someone needs to be monitoring these things closer if they’re not yet. ’cause you are a hundred percent correct. There’s, so, there’s, there’s private, there’s public sides of the acoustic monitoring, right? So like the United States military monitors, there’s, there’s acoustic monitoring all up and down. I can’t actually never, I looked into it quite a while ago. There’s a name for the whole system. It’s called the blah, blah, blah, and it monitors our coastline. Like ev, there’s a sensor. Every man, it’s a couple miles. Like all, all around the EEZ of the United States. And that exists everywhere. So like you think like in international waters, guarantee that the United States has got microphones out listening to, [00:23:00] right. So, but if you’re in the Baltic Sea, it’s a little bit different of an, of a confined space. But you have Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, all along the southern and eastern coast and the, and Russia. And then you have the Fins, Swedes, Norwegian, Denmark, Germany. Everybody is Poland. Everybody’s monitoring that for sure. It’s just like a postmortem investigation is, is doable.  Allen Hall: Yolanda, how are they gonna stop this? Should they board the ships, pull the people off and sink them? What is it gonna take for this to end?  Yolanda Padron: I don’t know. In the meantime, I think Joel has a movie going on in his head about how exactly he’s gonna portray this. Um, yeah, it’s. I mean, I’d say better monitoring, but I, I’m not sure. I guess keep a closer eye on it next time. I mean, I really hope it’s, there’s not a next time, but there seems to be a pattern developing. Right.  Allen Hall: I forgot how many of those happened.  Joel Saxum: Yeah. The maritime, this is a, this is a tough reality about the maritime world. [00:24:00] ’cause I, I’ve done some work done in Africa and down there it’s specifically the same thing. There’s say there’s a vessel. Okay, so a vessel is flagged from. S Cy Malta, a lot of vessels are flagged Malta or Cyprus, right? Because of the laws. The local laws there that Cyprus flagged vessel may be owned by a company based in, um, Bermuda that’s owned by a company based in Russia that’s owned by a company based in India. All of these things are this way. There’s shell companies and hidden that you don’t know who owns vessels unless they’re even, even the specific ones. Like if you go to a Maersk vessel. And you’re like, oh, that’s Maersk, they’re Danish. Nope. That thing will be, that thing will be flagged somewhere else, hidden somewhere else. And it’s all about what port you go to and how much taxes you can hide from, and you’ll never be able to chase down the actual parties that own these vessels and that are responsible you, you, it, it’s so [00:25:00] difficult. You’re literally just going to have to deal with the people on board, and you can try to chase the channels to who owns that boat, but you’ll never find them. That’s the, that’s the trouble with it.  Allen Hall: It does seem like a Jean Claude Van Dam situation will need to happen pretty soon. Maybe as Steven Segal, something has to happen. It can’t continue to go on it over the next couple of months with as much attention as being paid to international waters and. Everything that’s happening around the world, you’d think that, uh, ships Defense Department ships from Denmark, Finland, Germany. We will all be watching this really closely UK be watching this and trying to stop these things before they really even happened. Interesting times. That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcasts. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas. We’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. [00:26:00] And if you found value in today’s conversation, please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show for Rosie, Yolanda and Joel. I’m Alan Hall and we’ll catch you next week on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

Allen covers the Trump administration’s suspension of five East Coast offshore wind leases on national security grounds, and the wave of lawsuits from developers like Equinor and Ørsted calling the reasoning pretextual. Plus Bill Gates-backed startup Airloom showcases its low-profile turbine design at CES 2026, and Brazil opens consultation on curtailment compensation for renewables. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Five major offshore wind projects sit idle today. Billions of dollars in equipment. Thousands of workers. All waiting. President Trump has made no secret of his feelings about wind power. He has called offshore wind a scam. He has said these projects cost too much. He has compared them unfavorably to natural gas. Big ugly windmills, he calls them. His administration has moved aggressively to stop them. First came executive orders suspending federal approvals. Then stop-work orders on projects already under construction. In December, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management took the boldest step yet. It suspended the federal leases for five East Coast projects. The reason given: national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently classified reports. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum explained that wind turbine blade movement can interfere with radar systems. He pointed to vulnerabilities created by large-scale projects near population centers. The companies building these projects see it differently. Empire Wind called the reasoning hollow and pretextual. In court filings, the company pointed to statements from the Secretary of Interior and the White House. The real motivation, they argued, relates to the administration’s opposition to offshore wind energy. Not national security. Politics. These are not small projects. Empire Wind is sixty percent complete. Four billion dollars invested. Nearly four thousand workers employed during construction. When finished, it would power half a million New York homes. Its parent company, Norwegian energy giant Equinor, says it has coordinated closely with federal officials on national security reviews since twenty-seventeen. It has complied with every requirement. Revolution Wind is eighty-seven percent finished. A five billion dollar venture between Danish company Ørsted and Global Infrastructure Partners. The project went through more than nine years of federal review before approval in twenty-twenty-three. National security considerations were comprehensively addressed, the company says. Workers sat waiting on the water when construction was halted in August. A federal judge allowed them to resume in September. Now they’re stopped again. Both companies warn that the ninety-day suspension will likely result in cancellation. Offshore wind construction depends on highly choreographed specialized vessels. Complex sequencing. Narrow weather windows. You cannot simply pause and restart. Dominion Energy has also filed suit over its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. The company calls the suspension arbitrary and capricious. The legal battles are piling up. In December, a federal judge in Massachusetts declared an earlier stop-work order illegal. Seventeen states had sued. New York Attorney General Letitia James led the coalition. As New Yorkers face rising energy costs, she said, we need more energy sources, not fewer. Wind energy is good for our environment, our economy, and our communities. She called the administration’s actions a reckless and unlawful crusade against clean energy. Four East Coast governors issued a joint statement. New York’s Kathy Hochul. Massachusetts’ Maura Healey. Connecticut’s Ned Lamont. Rhode Island’s Daniel McKee. Coastal states are working hard to build more energy, they said. These projects have created thousands of jobs. They have injected billions in economic activity into our communities. The National Ocean Industries Association is calling for an end to the pause. Offshore wind improves national security, says president Erik Milito. It shifts economic, infrastructure, and geopolitical advantages to the United States. The Interior Department has declined to comment on the lawsuits. Meanwhile, at CES twenty-twenty-six in Las Vegas, a different kind of wind power is making news. A startup called Airloom is showcasing a radical new turbine design. Backed by Bill Gates. No towering blades reaching for the sky. Instead, a low-profile system about sixty-six to ninety-eight feet high. Picture a loop of adjustable wings traveling along a track. More roller coaster than windmill. The company claims forty percent less material. Forty-seven percent lower cost. Eighty-five percent faster deployment. They say projects can be built in under a year instead of five. And unlike traditional turbines, these can go places conventional wind farms cannot. Remote islands. Mountainous terrain. Near airports. Even military bases. Places where spinning blades would be impractical. The company broke ground on a pilot site last June. Commercial demonstrations are planned for twenty-twenty-seven. Down in Brazil, the government is tackling a different wind energy challenge. What happens when you generate more power than the grid can handle? Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy has opened a public consultation. The question: how should wind and solar generators be compensated when their output gets curtailed? The government wants to balance legal certainty for investors against excessive costs for electricity consumers. Stakeholders have until January sixteenth to weigh in. So there you have it. The near future of US offshore wind will be decided in court rooms over the next few weeks. The curtailment of Brazilian renewables will be bandied about in January. And a Bill Gates supported wind company is going to try it’s hand at power remote locations. I hope you had new year’s celebration. 2026 is going to be an interesting ride. And that’s the wind energy news for the 5th of January, 2026. Join us tomorrow for the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast

Allen, Joel, and Rosemary break down the Trump administration’s sudden halt of five major offshore wind projects, including Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind and parts of Vineyard Wind, over national security claims the hosts find questionable. They also cover the FCC’s ban on new DJI drone imports and what operators should do now, plus Fraunhofer’s latest wind research featured in PES Wind Magazine. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by Strike Tape, protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit strike tape.com. And now your hosts, Alan Hall, Rosemary Barnes, Joel Saxon, and Yolanda Padron. Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Allen Hall: Podcast. I’m your host, Alan Hall, and I’m here with. Rosemary Barnes in Australia and Joel Saxon is down in Austin, Texas. Yolanda Padron is on holiday, and well, there’s been a lot happening in the past 24 hours as we’re recording this today. If you thought the battle over offshore wind was over based on some recent court cases, well think again. The Trump administration just dropped the hammer on five major offshore wind projects. Exciting. National security concerns. The Secretary of the Interior, Doug Bergham announced. The immediate pause affecting projects from Ted Eor, CIP and Dominion Energy. So Coastal [00:01:00] Virginia, offshore wind down in Virginia, right? Which is the one we thought was never gonna be touched. Uh, the Department of War claims classified reports show these giant turbines create radar interference that could blind America’s defenses. Half of vineyard winds, turbines are already up and running, producing power, by the way. Uh, and. I guess they, it sounds like from what I can see in more recent news articles that they turn the power off. They just shut the turbines off even though those turbines are fully functioning and delivering power to shore. Uh, so now the question is what happens? Where does this go? And I know Osted is royally upset about it, and Eor obviously along with them, why not? But the whole Denmark us, uh, relationship is going nuclear right now. Joel Saxum: I think here’s a, here’s a technical thing that a lot of people might not know. If you’re in the wind industry in the United States, you may know this. There’s a a few sites in the northern corner of Colorado that are right next to Nebraska, [00:02:00] and that is where there is a strategic military installations of subsurface, basically rocket launches and. And in that entire area, there is heavy radar presence to be able to make sure that we’re watching over these things and there are turbines hundreds of meters away from these launch sites at like, I’ve driven past them. Right? So that is a te to me, the, the radar argument is a technical mute point. Um, Alan, you and I have been kind of back and forth in Slack. Uh, you and I and the team here, Rosemary’s been in it too, like just kind of talking through. Of course none of us were happy. Right. But talking through some of the points of, of some of these things and it’s just like basically you can debunk almost every one of them and you get down to the level where it is a, what is the real reasoning here? It’s a tit for tat. Like someone doesn’t like offshore wind turbines. Is it a political, uh, move towards being able to strengthen other interests and energy or what? I don’t know. ’cause I can’t, I’m not sitting in the Oval Office, but. [00:03:00] At the end of the day, we need these electrons. And what you’re doing is, is, is you’re hindering national security or because national security is energy security is national security, my opinion, and a lot of people’s opinions, you’re hindering that going forward. Allen Hall: Well, let’s look at the defense argument at the minute, which is it’s, it’s somehow deterring, reducing the effectiveness of ground radars, protecting the shoreline. That is a bogus argument. There’s all kinds of objects out on the water right now. There’s a ton of ships out there. They’re constantly moving around. To know where a fixed object is out in the water is easy, easy, and it has been talked about for more than 15 years. If you go back and pull the information that exists on the internet today from the Department of Defense at the time, plus Department of Interior and everybody else, they’ve been looking at this forever. The only way these turbines get placed where they are is with approval from the Department of Defense. So it isn’t like it didn’t go through a review. It totally did. They’ve known about this for a long, long time. So now to bring up this [00:04:00] specious argument, like, well, all of a sudden the radar is a problem. No, no. It’s not anybody’s telling you it’s a classified. Piece of information that is also gonna be a bogus argument because what is going along with that are these arguments as well, the Defense Department or Department of War says it’s gonna cause interference or, or some degradation of some sort of national defense. Then the words used after it have nothing to do with that. It is, the turbines are ugly, the turbines are too tall. It may interfere, interfere with the whales, it may interfere with fishing, and I don’t like it. Or a, a gas pipeline could produce more power than the turbines can. That that has nothing to do with the core argument. If the core argument is, is some sort of defense related. Security issue, then say it because it, it can’t be that complicated. Now, if you, if you knew anything about the defense department and how it operates, and also the defenses around the United States, of which I know a little bit about, [00:05:00] having been in aerospace for 30 freaking years, I can tell you that there are all kinds of ways to detect all kinds of threats that are approaching our shoreline. Putting a wind turbine out there is not Joel Saxum: gonna stop it. So the, at the end of the day, there is a bunch, there’s like, there’s single, I call them metric and intrinsic, right? Metric being like, I can put data to this. There’s a point here, there’s numbers, whatever it may be. And intrinsic being, I don’t like them, they don’t look that good. A pipeline can supply more energy. Those things are not necessarily set in stone. They’re not black and white. They’re, they’re getting this gray emotional area instead of practical. Right. So, okay. What, what’s the outcome here? You do this, you say that we have radar issues. Do we do, does, does the offshore substation have a radar station on it for the military or, or what does that, what does that look like? Allen Hall: Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, but if the threat is what I think it is, none of this matters. None of this matters. It’s already been discussed a hundred times with the defense [00:06:00] department and everybody else is knowledgeable in this, in this space. There is no way that they started planted turbines and approve them two, three years ago. If it was a national security risk, there is no chance that that happened. So it really is frustrating when you, when you know some of the things that go on behind the scenes and you know what, the technical rationales could be about a problem. And that’s not what’s being talked about right now that I don’t like being lied to. Like, if you want to have a, a political argument, have a political argument, and the, if the political argument is America wants Greenland from Denmark, then just freaking say it. Just say it. Don’t tie Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, new J, all, all these states up until this nonsense, Virginia, what are we doing? What are we doing? Because all those states approved all those projects knowing full well what the costs were, knowing how tall the turbines were, knowing how long it was gonna take to get it done, and they all approved them. This [00:07:00] is not done in a vacuum. These states approve these projects and these states are going to buy that power. Let them, you wanna put in a a, a big gas pipeline. Great. How many years is that gonna take, Doug? How many years is that gonna take? Doug Bergham? Does anybody know? He, he doesn’t know anything about that. Joel Saxum: You’re not getting a gas pipeline into the east coast anytime soon whatsoever. Because the, the east, the east coast is a home of Nimbyism. Allen Hall: Sure, sir. Like Massachusetts. It’s pretty much prohibited new gas pipelines for a long time. Okay. That’s their choice. That is their choice. They made that choice. Let them live with it. Why are you then trying to, to double dip? I don’t get it. I don’t get it. And, but I do think, Joel, I think the reason. This is getting to the level it is. It has to do something to do with Greenland. It has something to do with the Danish, um, uh, ambassador or whoever it was running to talk to, to California and Newsom about offshore tournaments. Like that was not a smart move, my opinion, but [00:08:00] I don’t run international relations with for Denmark. But stop poking one another and somebody’s gotta cut this off. The, the thing I think that the Trump administration is at risk at is that. Or instead, Ecuador has plenty of cash. They’re gonna go to court, and they are most likely going to win, and they’re going to really handcuff the Trump administration to do anything because when you throw bull crap in front of a judge and they smell it, the the pushback gets really strong. Well, they’re gonna force all the discussion about anything to do with offshore to go through a judge, and they’re gonna decide, and I don’t think that’s what the Trump administration wants, but that’s where they’re headed. I’m not sure why Joel Saxum: you’d wanna do that. Like at the end of the day, that may be the solution that has to come, but I don’t think that that’s not the right path either. Right? Because a judge is not an SME. A judge doesn’t know all of the, does the, you know, like a, a judge is a judge based on laws. They don’t, they’re, they’re not an offshore wind energy expert, so they sh that’s hard for them to [00:09:00] decide on. However, that’s where it will go. But I think you’re correct. Like this, this is more, this is a larger play and, and this mor so this morning when this rolled out, my WhatsApp, uh, and text messages just blew up from all of my. Danish friends, what is going on over there? I’m like, I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m not in the hopeful office. I can’t tell you what’s going on. I’m not having coffee in DC right now. I said, you know, but going back to it, like you can see the frustration, like, what, why, why is this the thing? And I think you’re right though, Alan, it is a large, there’s a larger political play in, in movement here of this Greenland, Denmark, these kind of things. And it’s a, it’s. It’s sad to see it ’cause it just gets caught. We’re getting caught in the crossfire as a wind industry. Yeah. It’s Allen Hall: not helping anybody. And when you set precedents like this, the other side takes note, right? So Democrats, when they eventually get back into the White House again, which will happen at some point, are gonna swing the pendulum just as hard and harder. So what are you [00:10:00] doing? None of, none of this matters in, in my opinion, especially if you, if you read Twitter today, you’re like, what the hell? All the things that are happening right now. RFK Jr had a post a few hours ago talking about, oh, this is great. We’re gonna shut off this off shore wind thing because it kills the whales. Sorry, it doesn’t. Sorry. It doesn’t, if you want, if you wanna make an argument about it, you have to do better than that. A Twitter post doesn’t make it fact, and everybody who’s listened to this and paying attention, I don’t want you to do your own research, but just know that you got a couple of engineers here, that that’s what we do for a living. We source through information, making sure that it makes sense. Does it align? Is it right? Is it wrong? Is, is there something to back it up with? And the information that we have here says. It is. It’s not hurting anything out there. You may not like them, but you know what? You don’t want a coal factor in your backyard either. Delamination and bottomline failures and blades are difficult problems to detect [00:11:00] early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. C-I-C-N-D-T are specialists to detect these critical flaws before they become expensive burdens. Their non-destructive test technology penetrates deep to blade materials to find voids and cracks. Traditional inspections completely. Miss C-I-C-N-D-T Maps. Every critical defect delivers actionable reports and provides support to get your blades back in service. So visit cic ndt.com because catching blade problems early will save you millions. Joel Saxum: When it comes down to sorting through data, I think that’s a big problem. Right? And that’s what’s happening with a lot of the, I mean, generalizing, a lot of the things that are happening in the United States in the last 10 years give it. Um, but people just go, oh, this person said this. They must be an authority. Like, no, it’s not true. We’ve been following [00:12:00] a lot of these things with offshore wind. I mean, probably closer than most. Uh, besides the companies that are developing those wind farms, simply because it’s a part of our day job, it’s what we do. We’re, we’re, we’re looking at these things, right? So. Understanding the risks, uh, rewards, the political side of things. The commercial side. The technical side. That’s what we’re here to kind of feed, feed the information back to the masses. And a lot of this, or the majority of all of this is bs. It doesn’t really, it doesn’t, it doesn’t play. Um, and then you go a little bit deeper into things and. Like the, was it the new Bedford Light, Alan, that said like, now they’re seeing that the turbines have actually been turned off, not just to stop work for construction. They’ve turned the turbines off up in Massachusetts or up off of in the northeast area? No, that they have. Allen Hall: And why? I mean, the error on the side of caution, I think if you’re an attorney for any of the wind operations, they’re gonna tell you to shut it off for a couple of days and see what we can figure out. But the, the timing of the [00:13:00] shutdown I think is a little unique in that the US is pretty much closed at this point. You’re not gonna see anything start back up for another couple of weeks, although they were doing work on the water. So you can impose a couple hundred million. Do, well, not a hundred million dollars, but maybe a couple million dollars of, of overhead costs in some of these projects because you can’t respond quick enough. You gotta find a judge willing to put a stay in to hold things the same and, and hold off this, uh, this, uh, b order, but. To me, you know, it’s one of those things when you deal with the federal government, you think the federal government is erratic in just this one area? No, it’s erratic in a lot of areas. And the frustration comes with do you want America to be stronger or do you want nonsense to go on? You know? And if I thought, if that thought wind turbines were killing whales, I’d be the first one up to screaming. If I thought offshore wind was not gonna work out in term, in some long-term model, I would be the first one screaming about it. That’s not Joel Saxum: reality. [00:14:00] Caveat that though you said, you’re saying if I thought, I think the, the real word should be if I did the research, the math and understood that this is the way it was gonna be. Right? Because that’s, that’s what you need to do. And that’s what we’ve been doing, is looking at it and the, the, all the data points to we’re good here. If someone wanted to do harm Allen Hall: to the United States, and God forbid if that was ever the case. That wouldn’t be the way to do it. Okay. And we, and we’ve seen that through history, right. So it, it’s, it doesn’t even make any sense. The problem is, is that they can shield a judge from looking at it somewhat. If they classify well, the judge isn’t able to see what this classified information is. In today’s world, AI and everything on the internet, you don’t think somebody knows something about this? I do. And to think that you couldn’t make any sort of software patch to. Fix whatever 1965 radar system they have sitting on the shorelines of Massachusetts. They could, in today’s world, you can do that. So this whole thing, it [00:15:00] just sounds like a smoke screen and when you start poking around it, no one has an answer. That is the frustrating bit. If you’re gonna be seeing stuff, you better have backup data. But the Joel Saxum: crazy thing here, like look at the, the, the non wind side of this argument, like you’re hurting job growth. Everybody that goes into a, uh. Into office. One of the biggest things they run on all the time, it doesn’t matter, matter where you are in the world, is I’m gonna bring jobs and prosperity to the people. Okay. How many jobs have just been stopped? How many people have just been sent home? How much money’s being lost here? And who’s one of the biggest companies installing these turbines in the states? Fricking ge like so. You’re, you’re hurting your own local people. And not only is this, you stand there and say, we’re doing all this stuff. We’re getting all this wind energy. We’re gonna do all these things and we’re gonna win the AI race. To the point where you’ve passed legislation or you’ve written, uh, uh, executive order that says, Hey, individual states, if you pass legislation [00:16:00] that slows or halts AI development in your state, the federal government can sue you. But you’re doing the same thing. You’re halting and slowing down the ability for AI and data centers to power themselves at unprecedented growth. We’re at here, 2, 3, 4, 5% depending on what, what iso you ask of, of electron need, and we’re the fastest way you could put electrons to the grid. Right now in the United States, it’s. Either one of those offshore wind farms is being built today, or one of the other offs, onshore wind farms or onshore solar facilities that are being built right now today. Those are the fastest ways to help the United States win the AI race, which is something that Trump has loud, left and right and center, but you’re actively like just hitting people in the shins with a baseball bat to to slow down. Energy growth. I, I just, it, it doesn’t make any logical sense. Allen Hall: And Rosemary just chime in here. We’ve had enough from the Americans complaining about it. Rosemary Barnes: Yeah. I mean, it’s hard for me to comment in too much detail about all of the [00:17:00] American security stuff. I mean, defense isn’t, isn’t one of my special interests and especially not American defense, but. When I talk about this issue with other Australians, it’s just sovereign risk is the, the issue. I mean, it was, it’s similar with the tariffs. It’s just like how, and it’s not just for like foreign companies that might want to invest in America. American companies are affected just, uh, as equally, but like you might be anti wind and fine. Um, but I don’t know how any. Company of any technology can have confidence to embark on a multi-year, um, project. Now, because you don’t know, like this government hates wind energy, but the next one could hate ai or the next one could hate solar panels, electric cars, or you know, just, just anything. And so like you just can’t. You just can’t trust, um, that your plans are gonna be able to be fulfilled even if you’ve got contracts, even if you’ve got [00:18:00] approvals, even if you are most of the way through building something, it’s not enough to feel safe anymore. And it’s just absolutely wild. That’s, and yeah, I was actually discussing with someone yesterday. How, and bearing in mind I don’t really understand American politics that deeply, but I’m gonna assume that Republicans are generally associated with being business friendly. So there must be so many long-term Republican donors who have businesses that have been harmed by all of these kinds of changes. And I just don’t understand how everyone is still behind this type of behavior. That’s what, that’s what I struggle to understand. Joel Saxum: This is the problem at the higher levels in. In DC their businesses are, are oil and gas based though. That’s the thing, the high, the high power conservative party side of things in the United States politics. The, the lobby money and the real money and the like, like think like the Dick Cheney era. Right. That was all Weatherford, right? It’s all oil and gas. Rosemary Barnes: So it’s not like anybody [00:19:00] cares about the, you know, I don’t know, like there’d be steel fabricators who have been massively affected by this. Right? Like that’s a good, a good traditional American business. Right. But are you saying it’s not big enough business that anyone would care that, that they’ve been screwed over? Joel Saxum: Not anymore Allen Hall: because all that’s being outsourced. The, the other argument, which Rosemary you touched upon is, is the one I’m seeing more recently on all kinds of social medias. It’s a bunch of foreign companies putting in these wind turbines. Well, who the hell Joel Saxum: is drilling your oil baby? This is something that I’ve always said. When you go go to Houston, Texas, the energy capital of the world, every one of those big companies, none of ’em are run by a Texan. They are all run by someone from overseas. Every one of ’em. Allen Hall: You, you think that, uh, you know, the Saudis are all, you know, great moral people. What the hell are you talking about? Are you starting to compare countries now? Because you really don’t wanna do that. If you wanna do that into the traditional energy marketplace, you’re, you’re gonna have [00:20:00] a lot of problems sleeping at night. You will, I would much rather trust a dane to put in a wind turbine or a German to put in a wind turbine than some of the people that are in, involved in oil and gas. Straight up. Straight up. Right. And we’ve known that for years. And we, we, we just play along, look. The fact of the matter is if you want to have electrons delivered quickly to the United States, you’re gonna have to do something, and that will be wind and solar because it is the fastest, cheapest way to get this stuff done. If you wanna try to plant some sort of gas pipeline from Louisiana up to Massachusetts or whatever the hell you wanna do, good luck. You know how many years you’re talking about here. In the meantime, all those people you, you think you care about are gonna be sitting there. With really high electricity rates and gas, gas, uh, rates, it’s just not gonna end well. Speaker 5: Australia’s wind farms are growing fast, but are your operations keeping up? Join us February 17th and [00:21:00] 18th at Melbourne’s Poolman on the park for Wind energy o and M Australia 2026, where you’ll connect with the experts solving real problems in maintenance asset management. And OEM relations. Walk away with practical strategies to cut costs and boost uptime that you can use the moment you’re back on site. Register now at W OM a 2020 six.com. Wind Energy o and m Australia is created by wind professionals for wind professionals because this industry needs solutions. Not speeches if Allen Hall: you don’t have enough on your plate already. Uh, the FCC has panned the import and sale of all new drone models from Chinese manufacturers, including the most popular of all in America, DJI, uh, and they clo. They currently hold about 70% of the global marketplace, the ban as DGI and Autel Robotics to the quote unquote covered list of entities deemed [00:22:00] a national security risk. Now here’s the catch. Existing models that are already approved for sale can still be purchased. So you can walk down to your local, uh, drone store and buy A DJI drone. And the ones you already own are totally fine, but the next generation. Not happening. They’re not gonna let ’em into the United States. So the wind industry heavily relies on drones. And, and Joel, you and I have seen a number of DJI, sort of handheld drones that are used on sites as sort of a quick check of the health of a, or status of a blade. Uh, you, you, I guess you will still be able to do that if you have an older dj. I. But if you try to buy a new one, good luck. Not gonna happen. Joel Saxum: Yeah. I think the most popular drone right now in the field, of course two of ’em, I would, I would say this, it’s like the Mavic type, you know, the little tiny one that like a site supervisor or a technician may have, they have their part 1 0 7 license. They can fly up and look at stuff. Uh, and then the [00:23:00] other one is gonna be the more industrial side. That’s gonna be the DJ IM 300. And that’s the one where a lot of these platforms, the perceptual robotics and some of the others have. That’s their base because the M 300 has, if you’re not in the, the development world, it has what’s called a pretty accessible SDK, which software development kit. So they’re designed to be able to add your sensors, put your software, and they’re fly ’em the way you want to. So they’re kind of like purpose built to be industrial drones. So if you have an M 300 or you’re using them now, what this I understand is you’re gonna still be able to do that, but when it comes time for next gen stuff, you’re not gonna be able to go buy the M 400. And import that. Like once it’s you’re here, you’re done. So I guess the way I would look at it is if I was an operator and that was part of our mo, or I was using a drone inspection provider, that that’s what comes on site. I would give people a plan. I would say basic to hedge your risk. I would say [00:24:00]basically like, Hey, if you’re my drone operator and I’m giving you a year to find a new solution. Um, that integrates into your workflows to get this thing outta here simply because I can’t be at risk that one day you show up, this thing crashes and I can’t get another one. A lot of companies are already like, they’re set and ready to go. Like all the new Skys specs, the Skys specs, foresight, drone, it’s all compliant, right? It’s USA made USA approved. Good to go. I think the new Arons drone is USA compliant. Good to go. Like, no, no issues there. So. Um, I think that some of the major players in the inspection world have already made their moves, um, to be able to be good USA compliant. Um, so just make sure you ask. I guess that’s, that. Our advice to operators here. Make sure you ask, make sure you’re on top of this one so you just don’t get caught with your pants down. Allen Hall: Yeah, I know there’s a lot of little drones in the back of pickup trucks around wind farms and you probably ought to check, talk to the guys about what’s going on to make sure that they’re all compliant. [00:25:00] In this quarter’s, PES Win magazine, which you can download for free@pswin.com. There is an article by Fran Hoffer, and they’re in Germany. If you don’t know who Fran Hoffer is, they’re sort of a research institution that is heavily involved in wind and fixing some of the problems, tackling some of the more complex, uh, issues that exist in blade repair. Turbine Repair Turbine Lifetime. And the article has a number of the highlights that they’ve been working on for the last several years, and you should really check this out, but looking at the accomplishments, Joel, it’s like, wow, fraud offer has been doing a lot behind the scenes and some of these technologies are, are really gonna be helpful in the near future. Joel Saxum: Yeah. Think of Frown Hoffer of your our US com compadres listening. Think of frown Hoffer as and NRE L, but. Not as connected to the federal government. Right. So, but, but more connected to [00:26:00] industry, I would say. So they’re solving industry problems directly. Right. Some of the people that they get funding research from is the OEMs, it’s other trade organizations within the group. They’re also going, they’re getting some support from the German federal government and the state governments. But also competitive research grants, so some EU DPR type stuff, um, and then some funding from private foundations and donors. But when you look at Frow, offerer, it’s a different project every time you talk to ’em. But, and what I like to see is the fact that these projects that they’re doing. Are actually solving real world problems. I, I, I, Alan and I talk about this regularly on the podcast is we have an issue with government funding or supportive funding or even grant funding or competitive funding going to in universities, institutions, well, whoever it may be, to develop stuff that’s either like already developed, doesn’t really have a commercial use, like, doesn’t forward the industry. But Frow Hoffer’s projects are right. So like one of the, they, they have [00:27:00] like the large bearing laboratory, so they’re test, they’ve tested over 500 pitch bearings over in Hamburg. They’re developing a handheld cure monitoring device that can basically tell you when resin has cured it, send you an email like you said, Alan, in case you’re like taking a nap on the ropes or something. Um, but you know, and they’re working on problems that are plaguing the industry, like, uh, up working on up towel repairs for carbon fiber, spar caps. Huge issue in the industry. Wildly expensive issue. Normally RA blade’s being taken down to the ground to fix these now. So they’re working on some UPT tile repairs for that. So they’re doing stuff that really is forwarding the industry and I love to see that. Allen Hall: Yeah. It’s one of the resources that. We in the United States don’t really take advantage of all the time. And yeah, and there’s a lot of the issues that we see around the world that if you were able to call f Hoffer, you should think about calling them, uh, and get their opinion on it. They probably have a solution or have heard of the problem before and can direct you to, uh, uh, a reasonable outcome. [00:28:00] That’s what these organizations are for. There’s a couple of ’em around the world. DTU being another one, frow Hoffer, obviously, uh, being another powerhouse there. That’s how the industry moves forward. It, it doesn’t move forward when all of us are struggling to get through these things. We need to have a couple of focal points in the industry that can spend some research time on problems that matter. And, and Joel, I, I think that’s really the key here. Like you mentioned it, just focusing on problems that we are having today and get through them so we can make the industry. Just a little bit better. So you should check out PES WIN Magazine. You can read this article and a number of other great articles. Go to ps win.com and download your articles today. That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate all the feedback and support we receive from the wind industry. If today’s discussion sparked any question or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Just reach out to us on LinkedIn and please don’t forget to subscribe so you [00:29:00] never miss an episode For Joel, Rosemary and Yolanda, I’m a hall. We’ll catch you next week on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

As electricity demand from data centers continues to surge, a persistent question has dogged the industry: Are residential ratepayers footing the bill for massive tech infrastructure? According to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and an independent study it commissioned, the answer is a definitive no. As a guest on The POWER Podcast, Mandy Ulrich, senior manager of energy and water for Americas East at AWS, outlined the company's energy strategy and discussed findings from a study by Energy and Environmental Economics Inc. (E3) that examined how Amazon data centers impact local power systems. Study Finds Data Centers Generate Surplus Revenue The E3 study evaluated Amazon data centers across a diverse set of utility territories, including large investor-owned utilities such as Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Dominion Energy, mid-size utilities like Entergy, and cooperatives such as Umatilla Electric Cooperative in the Pacific Northwest. “The simple answer is that Amazon data centers are not being subsidized by other utility customers,” Ulrich said. The study projects that Amazon's data centers will generate $33,500/MW of surplus value in 2025, increasing to $60,650/MW by 2030. For a typical 100-MW Amazon data center, that translates to $3.4 million in surplus revenues in 2025 and approximately $6.1 million by 2030. These surplus funds—revenues above the utility's regulated rate of return—can be used by utilities to modernize grid infrastructure, improving reliability for all customers. Grid Investment Benefits All Customers The study found that Amazon data centers are driving investments in grid infrastructure that support not just their own operations but also local residential and commercial growth. Ulrich pointed to Entergy Mississippi as a prime example, where the utility is using investments from Amazon and other large customers to fund a $300 million “Superpower Mississippi” grid reliability campaign—at no cost to residential customers—targeting a 50% reduction in outages within five years. Innovative Rate Structures Prevent Cost-Shifting While the E3 study validates that existing rate policies have been effective in preventing cross-subsidization, Ulrich emphasized that AWS continues to work with utilities on innovative approaches to ensure large industrial customers pay their fair share. She highlighted a Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) project as a “groundbreaking model.” Under this first-of-its-kind agreement, Amazon is investing in 3 GW of electrical capacity, with 2.4 GW dedicated to data center operations and 600 MW reserved specifically to support grid reliability for all NIPSCO customers. The structure creates a separate generation company (GenCo) that operates under a “commercial contract term,” Ulrich explained. By operating as a separate entity, GenCo isolates the cost of new growth to data centers. “The data center companies that drive new demand for electricity will fund the generation and transmission infrastructure they require, ensuring that regular customers don't shoulder those costs, even if the customer leaves before contract completion,” NIPSCO said in a Nov. 24 press release. “NIPSCO's existing customers will have no financial responsibility for powering Amazon data centers,” Ulrich said. NIPSCO said, “This structure is expected to provide value to customers by generating approximately $1 billion in cost savings that will be returned to current NIPSCO customers as credits on monthly electric bills over the project's 15-year duration.”

Michael and I would like to take a moment and thank all of our great Subscribers and patrons this year. It has been a wildly successful growth year in listens, watches, and articles read, and we are truly blessed to see it. We are striving to improve and keep growing with some different things rolling out next year.While the cancellation is under review with the Department of War for national security risks, I think that if science is applied, it will be an easy ruling. So after reading about these cancellations, I wanted to see who would be impacted by the company and how consumers would be impacted. This will be an ongoing story as it unfolds, but the high utility costs will be passed on to consumers. And make no mistake, the Democrats will use this to their advantage, and Republicans won't do anything.President Trump and Secretaries Doug Burgum and Chris Wright are running down the road trying to do the right thing for the American People. The costs associated with the project are going to be huge, and when the Democrats start ripping President Trump over this, remember the Billions of dollars and the crippling of the economy that Obama, Biden, and the governors of Democratic states cost the US citizens by their overreach and Net Zero enforcement of horrific policies. The main topics discussed1. The Trump administration's cancellation of several major offshore wind projects in the U.S. due to national security concerns. The projects mentioned include Vineyard Wind One, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, Coastal Virginia Wind Offshore, and Empire Wind.2. The potential impact of these project cancellations on companies involved, such as Dominion Energy, GE Vernova, Orsted, and Equinor. The transcript discusses the financial performance and stock price movements of these companies.3. The debate around the definition of "green energy" and the challenges of integrating renewable energy sources like wind and solar into the power grid, including issues around transmission, costs, and reliability.4. The delay or cancellation of the retirement of some fossil fuel power plants in the U.S. in response to increasing electricity demand, particularly from the growth of AI and data centers.5. The global oil market dynamics, including the "oil glut" with a large number of oil tankers at sea, the impact of sanctions on major producers like Russia and Venezuela, and discussions around OPEC's role in oil price determination.6. The overall commentary on the state of the energy industry, policy debates, and Stu's perspectives on the various topics covered.1.All Large Scale Offshore Wind Projects Under Construction Suspended Due to National Security Concerns2.Virginia-based Utility Dominion Energy May Be Hit as Investors Eye This Week's Offshore Wind Cancellations3.GE Vernova Inc: Supplier to Vineyard Wind, Looking at Its Books After This Week's Trump Administration Cancellation of Projects4.U.S. Fossil-Fuel Power Plants Delay Retirement as AI Power Demand Soars5.Oil Glut and Surging Barrels at Sea Have Spooked Oil Traders and the Market, but Is This Market Dysfunction Rather Than a Glut?6.U.S. Department of Energy to Return $13 Billion to the Treasury and a clear definition of green energy is needed.Feel Free to use this as an excuse to not hang out with your in-laws if you need to over the holidays. We may be more fun. Check out the Energy News Beat Substack: https://theenergynewsbeat.substack.com/Check out the Energy News Beat Website: https://energynewsbeat.co/Also, if you need to calculate your tax burden, check out the tax calculator here https://energynewsbeat.co/invest/Merry Christmas to all, and thank you to all of our great followers, subscribers, and patrons.Check out Reese Energy Consulting, Sponsor of the Energy News Beat, Stand Up https://reeseenergyconsulting.com/

Read more Regulators to consider appeal against Dominion Energy natural gas plant Spanberger, Virginia Democrats eye affordability bills — on a budget Holiday travel expected to break records again in 2025 Updated: Virginia ABC grants Roseshire gambling parlor limited liquor license Other links Metro needs more money. Will Virginia deliver? (WAMU) US government admits role in causing helicopter-plane collision that killed 67 (The Associated Press) Step into this Iowan's Jane Austen–inspired dream for her 250th birthday (Iowa Public Radio) Our award-winning work is made possible with your donations. Visit vpm.org/donate to support local journalism.

Henrico supervisors establish animal cruelty registry, approve Dominion Energy solar farm plans; Henrico School Board torn on whether proposed redistricting plan is worthwhile; Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor picks up a major endorsement in her bid to seek the First Congressional District seat.Support the show

December 1, 2025 | Season 7 | Episode 44Markets don't move in straight lines, and neither do we. As December kicks off, we zoom out to habits and time—how focus shapes results—and then zoom right back into a surprisingly strong rally that flipped leadership from NVIDIA-linked names toward Alphabet's fast-rising AI stack. Gemini's leap and seventh-generation TPUs put Google's custom silicon and data advantage in the spotlight, while shifting rate-cut odds, a firmer BOJ tone, and commodity strength stirred the macro mix.We unpack why December often favors equities—tax-loss selling fades, window dressing appears, and holiday sentiment lifts risk—and where that seasonality can mislead. From there, we map the rotation: NVIDIA demand remains intense, but investors began pricing credible competition and diversified AI exposure through Alphabet's platforms. On the company front, we break down Barron's bullish case for Alphabet's monetization runway across Search, YouTube, Cloud, and devices, then pivot to Amazon's staggering capex engine. Three-hour delivery in select cities, expanding same-day reach in rural areas, one million robots, and AI tools like Rufus demonstrate how logistics, software, and ads compound into conversion and cash flow—especially if capex normalizes after the buildout.No AI story is complete without power. That's why we explore Dominion Energy's setup as data-center demand reshapes the utility outlook in Virginia, even as offshore wind risks ease and load growth accelerates. Finally, we translate looming 2025–2026 tax changes into action: Roth-only catch-up contributions for higher earners, updated deductions, and planning choices that can lift after-tax returns. The throughline is clarity—identify real leadership shifts, connect them to the physical infrastructure beneath them, and align with a tax framework that supports your goals. If this helped you think sharper about year-end moves, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a quick review—what rotation are you positioning for next?** For informational and educational purposes only, not intended as investment advice. Views and opinions are subject to change without notice. For full disclosures, ADVs, and CRS Forms, please visit https://heroldlantern.com/disclosure **To learn about becoming a Herold & Lantern Investments valued client, please visit https://heroldlantern.com/wealth-advisory-contact-formFollow and Like Us on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn | @HeroldLantern

US equity futures point to a strong open, with S&P 500 futures up about 1.2%. Asian markets traded mostly higher, and European equities also opened firmer. Nvidia delivered another beat-and-raise and reiterated expectations for more than $500B in Blackwell and Rubin revenue through 2026, with guidance assuming no China contribution due to ongoing restrictions; Furthermore, the October FOMC minutes showed “many” participants supported keeping rates unchanged for the rest of the year, reinforcing a divided policy outlook and keeping attention on December cut odds; In addition, geopolitical attention rose after reports that US and Russian officials drafted a new plan to end the Ukraine war that includes territorial concessions and a rental-fee framework, adding another layer of uncertainty to global risk sentiment.Companies Mentioned: Palo Alto Networks, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Dominion Energy

In Nigeria, tens of millions of people live without access to reliable power. Utibe Bassey grew up in Lagos, and knows what it's like to not have electricity to perform simple daily tasks. When she moved to the United States as a teen, she didn't think much about electric utilities. But she did think about how managers treat employees – a thought spurred by an unfortunate instance she witnessed while working at a fast food chain. Ever since then, Utibe has refined her personal philosophy, “Love as a KPI,” which prioritizes kindness and human connection in the workplace. As we prepare for our season six launch, we bring you one of our favorite episodes from season three of With Great Power. In this rerun episode, Utibe tells Brad about how she puts her personal philosophy to work at Dominion Energy, where she is vice president of customer experience. She also talks about what it means to work in the power industry, having lived without access to reliable power in her youth.  Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Erin Hardick. Edited by Anne Bailey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The GridX production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.

The utility recently requested regulatory approval for nearly a dozen facilities totaling $2.9 billion.

While European wind giants like Maersk and Ørsted face cancellations and layoffs, America's offshore wind projects in Virginia and Massachusetts are surging ahead, proving that genuine energy demand trumps political headwinds when the physics and economics align. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! It's an interesting time to be in wind energy....In a shipyard in Singapore, there's a vessel worth four hundred and seventy-five million dollars. It's ninety-eight percent complete, built specifically to install wind turbines off the coast of New York. And it's just floating there... abandoned. Maersk Offshore Wind walked away from the contract last week. Just cancelled it. Left Seatrium, the shipbuilder, holding a near-finished vessel with nowhere to go. The ship was supposed to build Empire Wind, but now lawyers are circling and nobody knows what happens next. This is happening at the same time Orsted, the company that pioneered offshore wind energy, announces it's cutting two thousand jobs. That's a quarter of their entire workforce. In Germany, Eno Energy just filed for bankruptcy, leaving two hundred and eighty workers unemployed and the state government holding thirteen million euros in loan guarantees. You might think the wind industry is collapsing. But, you'd be wrong. Very wrong. Thirty miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, workers just accomplished something remarkable. They hammered one hundred and seventy-six massive foundations into the Atlantic seabed, finishing the job in just five months... ahead of schedule... in what everyone agrees was perfect weather. And the weather along the East Cost of the US has been splendid this year. This is Dominion Energy's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, and when it starts generating power next March, it will be America's largest offshore wind farm. Two-point-six gigawatts of power, enough for half a million homes. But here's what makes this story truly odd in today's US political environment.... Republican Congresswoman Jen Kiggans from Virginia Beach stood up on the House floor last month to defend this wind farm. Not attack it... defend it. She explained that this project provides a five hundred million dollar power grid upgrade to Naval Air Station Oceana. She called it a matter of national security. House Speaker Mike Johnson from Louisiana, oil country, personally told reporters he delivered Kiggans' message directly to the President. "We want to do right by Virginians," he said. Think about that for a moment. In this political climate, a Republican Speaker is defending wind power. Why? Because Virginia desperately needs electricity. Data centers are consuming power at unprecedented rates, the military requires reliable energy, and this project has already created two thousand American jobs while pumping two billion dollars into the economy. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, something interesting is also developing. Chinese manufacturer Ming Yang Smart Energy just announced they're investing two billion dollars to build a turbine factory in Scotland. They're promising fifteen hundred jobs for Scottish workers, with production starting in twenty twenty-eight. The job creations and investment amount sounds great, but there are still many hurdles to overcome. The reliability and insurability of Ming Yang turbines is still a hot topic amongst wind energy engineers. And security concerns with Chinese turbines will surely raise eyebrows of the UK, EU and US governments. Only time will tell.... Remember that ship floating in Singapore?

Hidden in plain sight: Richmond International Airport has become an ICE deportation flight hub; Henrico School Board removes three scenarios from redistricting proposal; Colonial Heights man dies after tire blows on I-295; arguments begin for proposed Dominion Energy facility in Chesterfield County; our Weekend Top 5 and Restaurant Watch.Support the show

Join Lil' Lo and Big Shot Shae as they discuss the profound loss of content creator and personality Malik Taylor, Chance The Rapper's return with Starline, Dominion Energy increasing power bills for all of their clients (everyone), being considerate friends and partners, and more! Email for advice / to be featured: LetMeStayFocused@gmail.com Follow Our Hosts:@lilloworldwide@bigshotshae**DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A COMEDIC PODCAST** Scenarios and responses from this show should be taken with a grain of salt. In other words, this is all a joke. Unless otherwise noted, any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.

The project to improve 72 acres in Portsmouth to become a staging ground for Dominion Energy's offshore wind project was completed in March. Officials say the money's been spent.

There are perhaps more than two ways to experience Charlottesville Community Engagement, but the audio edition is one of the ones that I know about. I'm Sean Tubbs, a journalist who got his professional start as an intern at a public radio station in Roanoke thirty years ago. Before that I spent a couple of years at a student newspaper at Virginia Tech. Somehow all of that led to this time in 2025 when I'm able to produce radio and print stories for an audience that pays me to do the work. Thank you and here's what's coming up in this edition.* Case against Charlottesville's zoning to proceed to trial after Judge Worrell changes position on default (learn more)* A round up of other stories not quite yet ready for a full story (see below for the briefs)* Albemarle Supervisors are briefed on strategic plan report (learn more)* On September 5, groups will mark the 75th anniversary of federal ruling that allowed a Black man to attend UVA law (learn more)* Albemarle Supervisors approve special use permit for private school on Dudley Mountain Road (learn more)Sponsor: Westwind FlowersIt's that time of year we've all been waiting for… Dahlia season!Westwind Flowers in Orange, Virginia believes the blooms in your vase should be just as fresh, and just as local, as the food on your table.Join them in September at their Gordonsville floral studio for their Dahlias & Desserts Workshop—sweet treats, stunning flowers, and serious fun.Then in October, grab your shears and sign up for their Dahlia U-Pick events at their farm… a flower lover's dream come true!But why wait? Order your locally grown, freshly harvested Dahlia bouquets today, delivered straight to your home, your office, or to someone special.Westwind Flowers offers sustainably grown, thoughtfully curated cut flowers, perfectly suited to the season, and the special moments in your life.Learn more at westwindflowers.com.A note of difference with this edition: This particular podcast edition comes at a time when there have been a few developments here and there. Perhaps it would be useful to have a segment of quick stories. This functions as the script for those who likely won't take a listen and longer versions may be in the next regular edition.City Council to consider ban overnight camping ban in Charlottesville public's spacesThe Labor Day holiday means City Council will meet on Tuesday rather than Monday, and the final item on their regular agenda is an ordinance to ban camping and personal storage on city property.“The City Manager shall be guided by City of Charlottesville's interpretation of applicable federal and state law, the safety and dignity of those impacted, and the need to protect public and private property in the City of Charlottesville,” reads the final line of the draft rules.Charlottesville City Police Chief Michael Kochis has proposed the new rules which are being considered less than two months after the White House has issued an executive order that calls for imprisonment of people who cannot find a home.For more information on this story, check out my story on C-Ville Weekly's website but also be sure to read the source materials.Resources:* Staff report for the ordinance* Draft protocol for how the ordinance is to be implemented* The ordinance to prohibit “unpermitted camping on city property”* White House Executive Order titled Ending Crime and Disorder on America's StreetsWhite House withdraws $39 million from Norfolk project for off-shore wind logisticsSince taking office, President Donald Trump has used the power of the federal government to shift away from the use of alternatives to fossil fuel. For instance, on July 7, 2025, the administration issued an executive order titled “Ending Market Distorting Subsidies for Unreliable, Foreign-Controlled Energy Sources.”On Friday, August 29, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy followed through with the termination or withdrawal of $679 million in projects for offshore wind projects. Duffy called such projects a scam.In late October 2023, the Port of Virginia provided an update on its efforts to become the primary logistics center for the Mid-Atlantic to assist Dominion Energy's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. This is taking place at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal.Duffy's announcement includes $39.265 million for the Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port. This was to support the Dominion project which is to consist of the construction of 176 offshore wind turbines situated on a lease site 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. (view the project on Dominion's site)What does this mean to the overall project? Stay tuned.Virginia Senate committee denies confirmation of more UVA Board membersWhen the University of Virginia's Board of Visitors next meets on September 11, there may not be as many members around the table at the Rotunda.On August 28, the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee declined to confirm 14 appointees to governing bodies of Virginia's public universities including four to the UVA Board of Visitors. All eight Democrats voted to decline to advance the nominations while all six Republicans voted to do so.The action comes at a time when the Virginia Supreme Court is taking up a lawsuit over a similar denial on June 9 when the committee declined to confirm the appointment of former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Current Attorney General Jason Miyares had advised fellow Republicans and University Rectors that the Senate committee action was not valid.The Senate Democrats on the panel sued and Fairfax County Circuit Court Jonathan D. Frieden agreed to a preliminary injunction barring Cuccinelli from serving as a member of the BOV. He did not attend a meeting in early August and his name is not listed on the BOV website.In late June, Youngkin appointed four more to the Board of Visitors and the newcomers did attend that August meeting. However, their names have also been removed from the BOV website.The Privileges and Elections Committee meeting on August 28 was swift but Republicans on the panel argued that a confirmation vote should wait until after the Virginia Supreme Court weighs in.“Traditionally, if we have something in front of the courts, we allow the court to rule and give them the opportunity to do their job,” said Senator Bill DeSteph (R-8). “And I think that before we vote on this, we should allow the Supreme Court the opportunity to rule on this.”DeSteph said a vote to deny the nominees could be construed as an attempt to influence the Virginia Supreme Court's decision.Senator Adam Ebbins (D-39) noted that none of the people up for appointment were part of the pending lawsuit.Senator Tara Durant (R-27) said she felt the nomination process was becoming politicized.“This is really kind of unprecedented,” Durant said. “We have a long list of people who have got quite a wealth of experience. And I think the broader question it begs is what will happen in the future to dissuade those who are willing to serve the Commonwealth in this capacity?”Committee Chair Aaron Rouse (D-22) responded briefly without much explanation.“We have a job to do as this committee, not only to protect our colleges, universities, but make sure that appointees or potential appointees are upholding the values and principles set forth by members of the Commonwealth, members of this body,” Rouse said.Stay tuned for more on this and other stories.And make sure to check out the Cavalier Daily's coverage as well.The end of 915-AI don't usually post end-notes for the podcast version but this is a hybrid. I wanted to get a newsletter out with the three stories that are reported in this edition, and I'll flesh each out in editions to come. Today could have been a day off, but I know when I chose this career decades ago that such things were not for me. I chose a profession where there's always the potential for something to happen. I call the business Town Crier Productions as a way of explaining the basic function of what I want my journalism to be.I want you to know things and the context in which decisions are made. I want you to consider possibilities you may not have done so before. I believe in this so strongly that I've dedicated my life in the pursuit of this craft. Sure, I make typos. Sure, I make the occasional error. Sure, I maybe don't know when to shut up in these blurbs sometimes.As soon as I hit send and as soon as Leeds v. Newcastle is over, I'm going to lace up my boots and walk somewhere. I don't know where yet but everywhere I walk I will see the examples of previous decisions I've covered in my 20 years here. Whenever I get to where I'm going, I'll keep working. It might be correspondence. It might be thanking subscribers. I may get the second version out of the Town Crier Productions media kit. I may begin writing the Week Ahead. I may write a note to the people doing the Virginia Local News Ecosystem Study to ask why the Cavalier Daily isn't included in their geographic scope. Or maybe I'll just keep trying to make up new sounds for future podcasts. Or maybe I'll just chat with friends?Who knows? All I know is I pledge to always be ready to get to work when I am able. Anyway, Everton looked good today until the end. Wolves were attacking at the end. Here's a review for the two people who read to this point. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

The State Corporation Commission is weighing Dominion's proposal.

In other news, Chesterfield residents are appealing a decision about Dominion Energy's permit use, the UVA Student Council has also issued a “no confidence” resolution in the Board of Visitors — and school is IN (or almost IN) session for Central Virginia students. ICYMI: Read the transcript from Monday's interview about Liberty Lost by clicking or tap here. Our award-winning work is made possible with your donations. Visit vpm.org/donate to support local journalism. 

Plus: A rabid raccoon in Mechanicsville; A statue of Jefferson Davis heads to California; and other stories

Scott Wapner and the Investment Committee debate the state of stocks with the economy once again in question and markets entering a historically rocky period. Plus, Palantir hitting a record high after earnings, it's our Chart of the Day. And later, Josh Brown adding Dominion Energy to his “Best Stocks in the Market.”Investment Committee Disclosures

Allen discusses Trump's offshore wind cancellations, Dominion Energy's tariff troubles in Virginia, and India's new wind manufacturing rules helping Suzlon Energy. He also mentions Scotland's massive Berwick Bank approval and Colorado company Radia's ambitious Wind Runner cargo plane project. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! I'm about to tell you about the biggest airplane you've never heard of. A Colorado company called Radia is building what could be the world's largest aircraft. They call it the Wind Runner. And if it is completed it's going to change everything about clean energy. Mark Lundstrom, an aerospace engineer from Boulder, has a simple problem to solve. Wind turbines keep getting bigger and more powerful, but we can't get them where they need to go. Here's why. Offshore wind farms can use turbine blades longer than 105m. But land-based turbines? They're stuck at about 80m. Not because of engineering limits - because of bridges, tunnels, and highway curves. The turbines are simply too big to get under bridges, through tunnels, or around curves, Lundstrom explains. So he's building a monster. The Wind Runner will be three hundred sixty-five feet long with a two hundred sixty-one foot wingspan. That's bigger than a Boeing 747. Much bigger. The payload volume? Twelve times greater than that famous jumbo jet. It'll run on sustainable aviation fuel and land on dirt strips right inside wind farms. Radia aims to complete the first Wind Runner in 2028. By doing this, Lundstrom says, we'll create the path to the cheapest energy in the world. Keep that plane in mind. Because everything else I'm about to tell you connects to that story. Now, let me tell you what's really happening with wind power. It's a story of global momentum meeting American resistance. President Trump just canceled plans to develop new offshore wind projects in federal waters. More than 3.5 million acres had been designated as wind energy areas. Gone. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is rescinding all designated wind energy areas. They're ending what they call speculative wind development. Offshore wind projects planned for Texas, Louisiana, Maine, New York, California, and Oregon? Canceled. The Biden administration's five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts? History. But here's the twist. While America pulls back, the rest of the world doubles down. Just days after Trump called wind turbines a con job during his visit to Scotland, the Scottish Government approved the world's biggest offshore wind farm project. The Berwick Bank project will power six million homes when finished. Trump said those turbines were some of the ugliest you've ever seen. Scotland said, "We'll take six million homes' worth of ugly, thank you very much." The message from Scotland? We're moving forward with wind power, regardless of what President Trump thinks. Now here's where policy meets your pocketbook. Dominion Energy's offshore wind project in Virginia just got over a $500 million price increase. The culprit? Trump's new tariffs on imported goods. The project features 176 giant wind turbines, 27 miles off Virginia Beach. It will power 660,000 homes next year. But those European Union tariffs, possible additional Mexican duties, and current taxes on Canadian and Mexican goods? They're adding up to $640 million to the project cost. Here's the kicker: Virginia customers will pay between $253 million and $320 million to cover those import taxes. Company chairman Bob Blue says the project is still the most affor...

 In this episode of Why It's So Bright at Night, host Bill McGeeney explores the growing movement in Norfolk, Virginia, led by Citizens for Responsible Lighting, a grassroots group advocating for smarter, healthier, and more environmentally responsible LED streetlighting.The group formed after residents were disturbed by overly bright 3000K–4000K LEDs installed across the city starting in late 2023 as part of a $5 million retrofit project funded by a $3 million federal grant. Rather than thoughtfully implement the upgrade, Dominion Energy inserted high-CCT LEDs into existing fixtures—including decorative ones, causing excessive glare, poor light distribution, and widespread light trespass into homes and over Norfolk's coastal waterways.The guests—Mary Frances Bellman, Joe Reynes, and Lori Baccanari—stress that they are not anti-LED, but are pushing for thoughtful, expert-guided implementation. Their five key requests include:Using 2700K or lower CCT lighting (2400K in environmentally sensitive areas)Specifying Type II distributionLimiting lumensApplying effective shieldingAdopting adaptive lighting controlsA thoughtful reimplementation would protect Nighttime visibility, reduce environmental harm to migratory species and amphibians, and minimize health risks like disrupted circadian rhythms, cancer, and dementia.Despite presenting to over 40 civic leagues and briefing elected officials, the group faces institutional resistance rooted in outdated 2016–2017 lighting guidelines. Yet, they argue that their proposed approach is not only safer and healthier but cost-neutral, offering a generational opportunity to get urban lighting right from the start. Send Feedback Text to the Show!Support the showA hearty thank you to all of our paid supporters out there. You make this show possible. For only the cost of one coffee each month you can help us to continue to grow. That's $3 a month. If you like what we're doing, if you think this adds value in any way, why not say thank you by becoming a supporter! Why Support Light Pollution News? Receive quarterly invite to join as live audience member for recordings with special Q&A session post recording with guests. Receive all of the news for that month via a special Supporter monthly mailer. Satisfaction that your support helps further critical discourse on this topic. About Light Pollution News: The path to sustainable starry night solutions begin with being a more informed you. Light Pollution, once thought to be solely detrimental to astronomers, has proven to be an impactful issue across many disciplines of society including ecology, crime, technology, health, and much more! But not all is lost! There are simple solutions that provide for big impacts. Each month, Bill McGeeney, is joined by upwards of three guests to help you grow your awareness and understanding of both the challenges and the road to recovering our disappearing nighttime ecosystem.

For many years, Dominion Energy dominated bank accounts of elected officials across Virginia. But then an interest group known as Clean Virginia started offering campaign cash to offset the influence of Dominion. Now, Michael Pope tells us the tables are turning.

Episode 248: At Dominion Energy, keeping the lights on isn't just a priority—it's the single biggest driver of customer experience. But as customer expectations continue to evolve, the bar keeps rising. Customers don't just want to know when their power will be back, they want to know why it is out. And they expect that experience to be as seamless, informed, and intuitive as downloading and using their favorite mobile apps. Meeting those expectations requires transparency, empathy, and a companywide commitment to service. In this episode, Utibe Bassey, vice president of customer experience, shares how Dominion Energy's mission-driven culture empowers this commitment, and how the company is harnessing tools like NPS Prism to better understand what customers need and how they perceive the service they receive—especially during critical moments like outages. That feedback helps teams act faster, communicate better, and focus on what really matters to customers. And it is, truly, a team sport. From operations and audit to communications and compliance, delivering a great experience takes cross-functional alignment and a shared sense of purpose. It's a culture where colleagues often rotate into different areas to build a greater understanding of the customer experience. Through data-driven decision making, a customer-centric mission, and an “all in” commitment to serve, Dominion is proving that customer-centricity can be a utility's greatest source of power.  Key Topics Covered: Communicating clearly about service disruptions Aligning teams around the customer journey Bridging the gap between customer perception and reality NPS Prism as a tool to inspire and inform improvements Meeting rising customer expectations in a utility context The value of empathy and transparency in customer communications Cross-functional teamwork and shared CX goals Strengthening a customer-centric culture Guest: Utibe Bassey, Vice President of Customer Experience, Dominion Energy Host: Rob Markey, Partner, Bain & Company Give Us Feedback: Help us improve the podcast. Want to get in touch? Send a note to host Rob Markey. Notable Quotes: [6:00] “We have a term that we say, ‘all in service,' because we're all in service of the customer. We want people, whether they're front line facing or they're in audit, supply chain, or ethics, to connect the dots between … even if it's three or four steps removed, it impacts how customers see our company.” [13:00] “The main thing our team tries to keep front and center for all of our stakeholders is that we need a shared outcome.” [32:00] “When you have an organization whose colleagues think about the customer in a way that connects themselves to the customer, even personally, this stuff is like wildfire.” Additional Resources: Bain & Company's Case Study with Dominion Energy: How a National Leader Turned CX Ideas into Action with NPS Prism

Today's top headlines:  Dominion Energy prepares for hurricane season in the Lowcountry Youths accused of pointing guns at driver in Georgetown County, 1 charged North Charleston community shares federal cut concerns in Clyburn’s town hall U.S. Rep. Mace comments on lawsuit filed against 3 men she labeled ‘predators’ MUSC and SC Department of Social Services clinic caters to foster children  Guidance counselor to part ways after 40 years at Lowcountry school Read more:  Edisto Island family struggles attending school over county lines, districts respond McMaster holds ceremonial signing of SC ‘revenge porn’ bill Dorchester County officials, investment partners conserve 1,600 rural acres

Today's top headlines:  Voters fill 2 open seats in North Charleston City Council special election Charleston County Annual Action Plan addresses housing crisis, needs public input Lowcountry animal shelters packed as kitten season hits its stride Mobile swim lessons to be offered for youth in rural Georgetown County in June Georgetown County deputies ask for help identifying suspects in trailer theft North Charleston Police investigating strong-arm robbery, victim injured Classroom Champions: Elementary school dance teacher wants to incorporate tap dancing into curriculum Charleston County considers supporting nonprofit summer programming Do state actions concerning Columbia’s conversion therapy ban violate local rule? Dominion Energy provides grants for over 100 South Carolina-based nonprofits State officials look at harms to Charleston waterways, ecosystems CDC will stop recommending COVID-19 shots to healthy children and pregnant women, RFK Jr. says

The pilot project includes 13 "bat flats" near Dominion's nuclear power plant in Surry.

Dominion Energy wants to raise electric bills by nearly 14 percent… Not surprisingly, Democrats didn't have the votes to override the governor's vetoes during the reconvene session, and we take a look at where amended bills go from here… Hundreds of people gather in Richmond for the annual March for Life….

It's been nearly five years since Dominion Energy pulled the plug on a $2.8 billion dollar project – the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Today, the author of a book on that subject shares lessons from the ACP and warns the nation faces another dash for gas.  Sandy Hausman has that story.

Plus: a Dominion Energy “near miss;” an update on Virginia's basketball teams in March Madness; and other stories.

3/13/2025 PODCAST Episodes #1849 - #1850 GUESTS: Dave LaRock, Col. John Mills, Phillp Patrick, Rep. Derrick Van Orden + YOUR CALLS! at 1-888-480-JOHN (5646) and GETTR Live! @jfradioshow #GodzillaOfTruth #TruckingTheTruth   Want more of today's show? Episode #1849 Col. John Mills Eviscerates "Legacy Activists”; Dave LaRock Blasts Sears on Dominion Energy Episode #1850  It's All For Show, Chucky Has The Votes   https://johnfredericksradio.libsyn.com/

Plus: Albemarle County Public Schools' speed cameras; a new president for Randolph-Macon; and other stories.    In the podcast: Southside Speedway set to return, new president for Randolph-Macon College. 

This month, Senior Portfolio Manager Rob Thummel breaks down the latest energy market shifts:Performance: Natural gas prices surged 30%, driving sector gains despite broader market declines.AI's Energy Impact: Big Tech's projected $300B in 2025 capex, with utilities forecasting long-term growth.Capex Trends: Big Oil majors plan over $100B in 2025 capital spending.LNG Boom: U.S. LNG exports expected to nearly double, securing America's dominance in global energy markets.Quick Hits: Energy Transfer's AI data center natural gas deal, Dominion Energy's 88% surge in contracted data center capacity, and small modular nuclear reactors traction.Download Transcript

After several days in recess due to the water woes in Greater Richmond, Virginia's state lawmakers are fully in session at the state capitol.    In other news: Three Chesterfield residents are suing the county and Dominion Energy, Fox Elementary School has a new cupola – and more Central Virginia news.    Visit vpm.org/generalassembly for all our coverage of the Legislature. 

Should Appalachian Power continue to have a monopoly across Southwest Virginia? Michael Pope reports that a senator from Richlands says it’s time to deregulate. The bill introduced by Senator Hackworth applies only to Appalachian Power, known as Phase One utility – not to the state’s largest electric utility, Dominion Energy, which is a Phase Two […]

Allen, Joel, and Phil discuss the growing popularity of return-to-office mandates. New York state has signed a climate change superfund act, making companies pay for pollution retroactively. And Dominion Energy's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project should be successfully finished in 2026. Fill out our Uptime listener survey and enter to win an Uptime mug! Register for Wind Energy O&M Australia! https://www.windaustralia.com Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes' YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com Allen Hall: Newark launches a landmark challenge to Big Energy. Dominion Energy proves offshore wind can work in America and the great return to office debate hits the wind industry. All this, plus much more. You're listening to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. You're listening to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by buildturbines.com. Learn, train, and be a part of the clean energy revolution. Visit BuildTurbines. com today. Now here's your hosts, Allen Hall, Joel Saxum, Phil Totaro, and Rosemary Barnes. Allen Hall: Hey Uptime community, want to help shape the future of your favorite wind energy podcast? Take our quick 5 minute survey at UptimeWindEnergy.com com for a chance to win an exclusive Your insights matter to us, whether you're a long time listener or just joined us. Please go to uptimewindenergy. com and complete the survey. We would appreciate it. And then, if you haven't registered for Wind Energy O& M Australia, now's the time to get on that because we're gonna have a great time down in Melbourne, and we'll be with bunch of industry leaders on February 11th and 12th in Melbourne. It's a great time to discuss leading edge erosion, lightning protection, life extension, CMS, all the things that we talk about all over the world. We're going to focus on the Australian market and we'll have industry experts from our own Sky Specs, Tilt Renewables, GE, Vernova, RigCom, Whirly, Eelogix, Ping and many more. So reserve your spot now by visiting www. WindAustralia. com. It's time to transform your safety program at Active Training Team's Free Houston Expo on January 24th. Experience the innovative training methods that are revolutionizing the energy sector. And let's face it, the era of laptop training is over. Is Dead Active training team uses real actors live humans on site to place your team members in real world situations. Now there's limited spots available. And to secure your spot, you need to go to active Training team.us/contact, or email florence@activetrainingteam.co. Unlock your wind farm's best performance at Wind Energy O& M Australia, February 11th to 12th in sunny Melbourne. Join industry leaders as they share practical solutions for maintenance, OEM relations and asset management. Discover strategies to cut costs, keep your assets running smoothly and drive long term success in today's competitive market. Register today and explore sponsorships at www. windaustralia.com. Allen Hall: All right. 2025 is going to be an exciting year for the return to office. Now, a lot of companies are mandating the return to office, but the attendance hasn't been so great. The. Office attendance reached about 62 percent at pre pandemic levels, according to Betty. And it's planned to increase to almost 70%. So there's 30 percent of society that hasn't really returned to office. Now, as we have seen on X and on With Amazon and a number of other tech companies,

Growing demand requires growing supply. With more and more data centers and industrial facilities coming online, the United States will likely need 40 GW of incremental peak power generation – requiring hundreds of billions of dollars of related investment – just over the next few years. As large corporate buyers of power seek to meet their climate goals, they are increasingly looking at nuclear power as a scalable and cost-effective option. In this episode, Chad Reed chats with Brandon Oyer, Head of Americas Power and Water at Amazon Web Services (AWS). They discuss Amazon's recent efforts to contract with existing large-scale and new small modular nuclear reactors, the benefits and risks associated with nuclear power, growing bipartisan support for nuclear development and much more. Links:Amazon signs agreements for innovative nuclear energy projects to address growing energy demands7 ways Amazon is thinking big about nuclear energyDavid GogginsEpisode recorded November 25, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this episode of Fed Time Stories, hosts Dave Brant and John Gill explore a conversation about integrity in federal service through the experiences of Adam Lee, former FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Richmond Division and current Chief Security Officer at Dominion Energy.Adam shares his journey from a California dreamer to an influential figure in law enforcement, recounting how his determination that led him from state college to law school and ultimately to the FBI. Throughout the episode, listeners can dive into fascinating insights of Adam's work on high-profile public corruption cases and the challenges he faced along the way. Adam emphasizes the significance of collaboration and perseverance in complex investigations, while also exploring how ethical conduct underpins public trust.Join us as we uncover Adam's transitions in life that not only shaped his career but also deepened his understanding of integrity in law enforcement. This episode promises to shine a light on the real-world implications of corruption and the dedication required to uphold justice.Fed Time Stories is brought to you by Kaseware, an investigative case management solution. Learn more at www.kaseware.com/fedtimestoriespodcast

In this episode of FedTime Stories, hosts Dave Brant and John Gill continue their conversation with Adam Lee, former FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Richmond Division and current Chief Security Officer at Dominion Energy. Adam shares his personal narrative of September 11, 2001: Adam found himself at a turning point in his career. He vividly recalls the chaos and urgency of that day, where he was called to action as the investigation into the attacks began to unfold. His involvement in the subsequent investigation was crucial, as he worked tirelessly to piece together information and collaborate with various agencies, highlighting the critical need for unity in addressing national security threats. Adam's experience not only tested his resolve but also shaped his understanding of the complexities surrounding the public perception of law enforcement and its impact on recruitment efforts.Join us as we uncover another of Adam's formative experiences that not only shaped his career but also deepened his understanding of integrity in law enforcement. This episode offers a gripping look at the challenges faced by federal agents in the wake of 9/11 and the ongoing commitment to ensuring national security.Fed Time Stories is brought to you by Kaseware, an investigative case management solution. Learn more at www.kaseware.com/fedtimestoriespodcast

In the final episode of the Fed Time Stories series featuring Adam Lee, hosts Dave Brant and John Gill delve into another of Adam's career-defining experiences: His intriguing interviews with high-profile political figures. As a former FBI Special Agent in Charge and current Chief Security Officer at Dominion Energy, Adam shares insights into the importance of credibility and respect in national security.He recounts a memorable moment during an interview with a sitting president and reflects on the gravity of the situation and the lessons learned about preparation and adaptability in high-stakes environments. Adam emphasizes how these experiences not only shaped his professional journey but also reinforced his understanding that maintaining composure and integrity is essential when navigating the complex interplay of politics and law enforcement.From leading complex investigations to collaborating with colleagues under pressure, Adam's experiences reveal the challenges and dedication required to serve and protect. Join us as we wrap up this three-part series that underscores the values and resilience that propelled Adam Lee through his distinguished career.Fed Time Stories is brought to you by Kaseware, an investigative case management solution. Learn more at www.kaseware.com/fedtimestoriespodcast

Kerry Lutz welcomed Ross Givens back to the Financial Survival Network, where they discussed Givens' impressive trading journey, including a 23% gain since May 29th, and his investment in Dominion Energy, which has appreciated 15% while providing dividends. Givens shared insights on their investment strategy focused on insider trading, which has achieved a remarkable 1900% compounded growth since 2017, highlighting specific cases like CATX and Amelix that demonstrate the potential of insider buying. He emphasized the importance of risk management, recommending profit-taking at 25% gains and discussing the SEC's short swing rule for stability. In options trading, Givens advised against stop losses for smaller stocks and suggested investing a portion of capital in call options with a three to six-month horizon, noting that a 20% stock increase can double the option's value. Both Lutz and Givens acknowledged the challenges of finding effective investment strategies in a competitive market, encouraging exploration of lesser-known stocks for higher returns and promoting their monthly training sessions to educate investors. Lutz expressed gratitude for Givens' insights and looked forward to future discussions. Find Ross here: tradersagency.com View Ross's latest webinar here: https://webinar.tradersagency.com/ins... Find Kerry here: FSN and here: inflation.cafe

Kerry Lutz and Eddy Gifford engaged in a detailed discussion about the current economic landscape, focusing on job statistics, inflation concerns, and the impact of upcoming elections. Gifford expressed skepticism about the reliability of job reports, warning that inflation remains a pressing issue despite claims of its decline, and highlighted external factors like global conflicts that could worsen the situation. Lutz drew parallels between the current advancements in AI and the transformative effects of the Internet in the 90s, suggesting that while AI could enhance productivity and create jobs, it also poses challenges related to trust and resistance to change. They also addressed the capacity challenges faced by Dominion Energy in Northern Virginia due to rising energy demands from data centers and cryptocurrency mining, noting that utilities are becoming attractive investments amid economic uncertainty. Gifford pointed out the evolving dynamics of the energy market and mentioned gold and Bitcoin as potential safe havens during market fluctuations, underscoring the complexities of traditional investment strategies in this context. Find Eddy here: tactivewealth.com Find Kerry here: FSN and here: Inflation.Cafe

Plus: the future of the Arthur Ashe Boulevard bridge, a new partnership between Dominion Energy and Amazon in Northern Virginia and other stories.

Unlocking Business Success: The Role of Iteration and AI in Digital SolutionsIn a recent episode of "The Thoughtful Entrepreneur," host Josh engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Morgan Witham, the CEO of CoLab, a digital agency renowned for solving business challenges through innovative web solutions. This episode delves into CoLab's services, its history, and the current trends shaping user experience and digital marketing, particularly the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). Here, we break down the key insights and actionable advice shared by Morgan, providing a comprehensive guide for businesses looking to enhance their digital strategies.Morgan Witham begins by providing an overview of CoLab, emphasizing its mission to address specific business problems through web-based solutions. CoLab's team comprises strategists, UX/UI designers, developers, and software engineers, all dedicated to enhancing user experience and functionality. The agency specializes in redesigns and rebuilds, unique feature development, and long-term partnerships, moving beyond project-based work to develop ongoing relationships with clients, leveraging institutional knowledge for continuous improvement. Notable examples of CoLab's work include improving user experience for Idaho Central Credit Union, enhancing digital interfaces for Virginia Credit Union and Dominion Energy, and improving patient interaction for Chin Med.Reflecting on CoLab's history, Morgan notes that the agency was founded in 2008 by Eddie O'Leary on the principle that collaboration between design and development leads to better outcomes. Since joining six years ago, Morgan has played a pivotal role in refining processes, expanding national presence, and honing the agency's value proposition. Morgan highlights several key trends in user experience, such as ensuring consistency across platforms and using AI for content creation and personalization. He advocates for an iterative approach to web development and user engagement, emphasizing continuous iteration and real-time data utilization. In closing, Morgan invites listeners to explore CoLab's website for valuable resources and encourages those interested in improving their digital presence to reach out for a website audit or to discuss specific challenges.About Morgan Witham:Morgan Witham is the CEO of COLAB, a digital agency that has transformed how marketers leverage digital through custom websites built to grow with their organizations. With a background in investment banking, Morgan's specialty is in strategy development, cross-functional implementation, finance, relationship building, and coaching and development of personnel.Morgan's leadership style is characterized by her systems-thinking approach, which involves a keen understanding of how key functions of the business interact and influence each other. She champions a culture of agility, transparency, and continuous learning, with an unwavering commitment to her human-first approach. Under her leadership, COLAB has not only achieved significant business success but has made a measurable and significant impact on its clients' growth trajectories.About COLAB:COLAB creates websites that grow with companies and their digital teams. Powering progress, one pixel at a time.Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guestLinks Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out COLAB website athttps://www.teamcolab.com/Check out COLAB on LinkedIn athttps://www.linkedin.com/company/colab-multimediaCheck out Morgan Witham on LinkedIn...

The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 1: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court decided to temporarily permit Texas's Senate Bill 4 to take effect. The bill makes it a crime for migrants to illegally enter the United States—allowing for Texas officials to arrest and/or deport anyone who recently entered the state unlawfully. Adam Liptak of The New York Times writes: “The Supreme Court temporarily sided with Texas on Tuesday in its increasingly bitter fight with the Biden administration over immigration policy, allowing an expansive state law to go into effect that makes it a crime for migrants to enter Texas without authorization. As is typical when the court acts on emergency applications, its order gave no reasons. But Justice Amy Coney Barrett, joined by Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, filed a concurring opinion that seemed to express the majority's bottom line. They were returning the case to an appeals court for a prompt ruling on whether the law should be paused while an appeal moves forward, Justice Barrett wrote. ‘If a decision does not issue soon,' she wrote, ‘the applicants may return to this court.' The three liberal members of the court—Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor—dissented.” You can read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/us/supreme-court-texas-immigration.html What is Texas State Bill 4? Maria Mendez of The Texas Tribune writes that the “law would make it a state crime to cross the Texas-Mexico border between ports of entry. If a police officer has probable cause to believe a person illegally crossed the Rio Grande, that person could be charged with a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a punishment of up to six months in jail. For subsequent offenses, the person could be charged with a second-degree felony and face up to 20 years in prison. If the migrant is convicted and has served their sentence, a judge would be required to order police to transport them to a port of entry. A judge could drop the charges if a migrant agrees to return to Mexico, and police could turn over migrant families to Border Patrol agents to avoid separating children from their parents instead of arresting them.” You can read Menendez's full report here: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/18/texas-sb-4-immigration-arrest-law/ Craig Rucker—President of The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT)—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss a lawsuit his organization, alongside The Heartland Institute, recently filed against the Biden Administration “seeking to overturn their approval of Dominion Energy's plans to start construction of a massive offshore wind project off Virginia that ignores the obvious harm of the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The project consists of the 176 giant wind turbines—each tower taller than the Washington Monument, with turbine blades longer than a football field—to be constructed in the open ocean 25 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. If completed, the project would be the largest of its kind in the world. This Dominion Energy project is one of many offshore wind projects mandated by an executive order issued by President Biden, declaring that a ‘climate crisis' exists that ‘threatens mankind's existence.'” You can read The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow's (CFACT) full statement here: https://www.cfact.org/2024/03/18/coalition-sues-to-block-virginia-offshore-wind-project-to-protect-the-right-whale/

The Rich Zeoli Show- Full Episode (03/19/2024): 3:05pm- On Tuesday, the Supreme Court decided to temporarily permit Texas's Senate Bill 4 to take effect. The bill makes it a crime for migrants to illegally enter the United States—allowing for Texas officials to arrest and/or deport anyone who recently entered the state unlawfully. Adam Liptak of The New York Times writes: “The Supreme Court temporarily sided with Texas on Tuesday in its increasingly bitter fight with the Biden administration over immigration policy, allowing an expansive state law to go into effect that makes it a crime for migrants to enter Texas without authorization. As is typical when the court acts on emergency applications, its order gave no reasons. But Justice Amy Coney Barrett, joined by Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, filed a concurring opinion that seemed to express the majority's bottom line. They were returning the case to an appeals court for a prompt ruling on whether the law should be paused while an appeal moves forward, Justice Barrett wrote. ‘If a decision does not issue soon,' she wrote, ‘the applicants may return to this court.' The three liberal members of the court—Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor—dissented.” You can read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/us/supreme-court-texas-immigration.html 3:30pm- What is Texas State Bill 4? Maria Mendez of The Texas Tribune writes that the “law would make it a state crime to cross the Texas-Mexico border between ports of entry. If a police officer has probable cause to believe a person illegally crossed the Rio Grande, that person could be charged with a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a punishment of up to six months in jail. For subsequent offenses, the person could be charged with a second-degree felony and face up to 20 years in prison. If the migrant is convicted and has served their sentence, a judge would be required to order police to transport them to a port of entry. A judge could drop the charges if a migrant agrees to return to Mexico, and police could turn over migrant families to Border Patrol agents to avoid separating children from their parents instead of arresting them.” You can read Menendez's full report here: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/18/texas-sb-4-immigration-arrest-law/ 3:40pm- Craig Rucker—President of The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT)—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss a lawsuit his organization, alongside The Heartland Institute, recently filed against the Biden Administration “seeking to overturn their approval of Dominion Energy's plans to start construction of a massive offshore wind project off Virginia that ignores the obvious harm of the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The project consists of the 176 giant wind turbines—each tower taller than the Washington Monument, with turbine blades longer than a football field—to be constructed in the open ocean 25 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. If completed, the project would be the largest of its kind in the world. This Dominion Energy project is one of many offshore wind projects mandated by an executive order issued by President Biden, declaring that a ‘climate crisis' exists that ‘threatens mankind's existence.'” You can read The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow's (CFACT) full statement here: https://www.cfact.org/2024/03/18/coalition-sues-to-block-virginia-offshore-wind-project-to-protect-the-right-whale/ 4:05pm- While speaking at a campaign event in Ohio over the weekend, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump predicted that there would be an economic “bloodbath” for the automotive manufacturing industry if he didn't win the 2024 presidential election in November. Democrats and dishonest members of the media took the statement out of context—instead suggesting that Trump had openly called for a “bloodbath”, or a massacre, should he lose. A selectively trimmed nine-second clip was reposted by numerous social media accounts belonging to members of the political left, including: Biden-Harris HQ and Joe Scarborough (who quickly deleted his post). The strategically edited audio inaccurately makes it appear as though Trump is calling for violence. On Monday, morning shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC all promoted the fake narrative as well. 4:10pm- While appearing on Fox News with Jesse Watters, independent journalist Michael Shellenberger warned that progressives, as well as members of the media, have focused on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's “bloodbath” comments as an excuse to censor Trump and his supporters—labeling them collectively as a “violent threat to democracy.” 4:25pm- In a new “opinion video” for The New York Times, journalists Adam Westbrook and Lindsay Crouse attempted to debunk the idea that the deep state is a threat to American civil liberties—and they did so by traveling to Huntsville, Alabama? You can watch the video here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/opinion/trump-deep-state.html 4:40pm- In response to The New York Times's new “opinion video” attempting to debunk the existence of a deep state, billionaire Elon Musk accused the publication of being a “mouthpiece of the state.” 4:50pm- Thomas Catenacci of Fox News writes: “The State of Texas is terminating a massive $8.5 billion investment with trillion-dollar asset manager BlackRock over the state's determination that the firm is engaged in a boycott of energy companies.” You can read the full article here: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/texas-pulls-8-5-billion-blackrock-stunning-blow-esg-movement 5:05pm- While appearing on the Texas Lindsay podcast, Elon Musk—the owner of the social media platform X—revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used a special portal when communicating with officials at X (then-Twitter) which would “auto-delete” the conversations after two-weeks. Musk noted that this was likely a violation of the Freedom of Information Act. 5:15pm- Did The New York Times just admit that Republicans were right about COVID-19 lockdowns? The Daily Wire News writes: “An analysis piece from The New York Times this week admitted that Republicans by and large were correct—and Democrats were wrong—about policies that kept children out of school during the coronavirus pandemic. The report said that today there is ‘broad acknowledgment among many public health and education experts that extended school closures did not significantly stop the spread of Covid, while the academic harms for children have been large and long-lasting.'” You can read more here: https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-york-times-republicans-were-right-about-pandemic-school-policy-democrats-were-wrong 5:20pm- In a new “opinion video” for The New York Times, journalists Adam Westbrook and Lindsay Crouse attempted to debunk the idea that the deep state is a threat to American civil liberties—and they did so by traveling to Huntsville, Alabama? Plus, they interview a federal employee who removes lead from water and enjoys making salads in her spare time! You can watch the video here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/opinion/trump-deep-state.html 5:40pm- Ben Schreckinger of Politico reports: “Prosecutors said a business associate of Jim Biden conspired to defraud Medicare alongside an alleged leader of the Colombo crime family in a brief filed Friday in federal court in New Jersey. The government's accusation is likely to intensify scrutiny of the ties between President Joe Biden's brother and the associate, Mississippi businessman Keaton Langston. The Justice Department named Langston as a co-conspirator in the ongoing fraud case just three weeks after congressional investigators grilled Jim Biden about his relationship with the Mississippi businessman. In the course of a previous prosecution, the Justice Department identified a defendant in the fraud case, Florida businessman Thomas Farese, as a high-ranking member of the Colombo crime family, according to court filings.” You can read the full report here: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/18/doj-jim-biden-associate-mafia-boss-00147626 5:50pm- While answering questions from the press aboard Air Force One, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre confirmed that President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama speak with one another often. 6:05pm- Zack Smith—Legal Fellow and Manager of the Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Program in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to temporarily permit Texas's Senate Bill 4 to take effect. The bill makes it a crime for migrants to illegally enter the United States and allows for Texas officials to arrest and/or deport anyone who recently entered the state unlawfully. 6:15pm- On Monday “The Don Lemon Show” released its first episode—which included a long-form interview with billionaire Elon Musk. During the conversation, Lemon accused Musk of inaccurately claiming undocumented migrants can alter election outcomes. Musk then explained that undocumented migrants are counted in the census which can result in blue states receiving greater representation in the House of Representatives. 6:30pm- On Tuesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Former U.S. Central Command Commander General Kenneth McKenzie and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Mark Milley both testified that there was a severe lack of coordination. Gen. Milley conceded: “I'll be candid. I don't know the exact number of Americans that were left behind” in Afghanistan. 6:50pm- In a recent interview Leslye Headland, writer/producer of the upcoming series “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” explained that one of her goals for the Star Wars franchise is to make it more inclusive. Last year Disney announced a new director for its Star Wars film franchise—Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Obaid-Chinoy has won two Academy Awards for short-films examining injustice in Pakistan, but does that make her the ideal selection for a sci-fi franchise? Obaid-Chinoy said that her goal as a filmmaker has been to “make men uncomfortable,” but aren't most Star Wars fans just looking for an enjoyable two-hour movie? Is Disney destroying the Star Wars franchise?