Since taking power earlier this year, President Trump has made good on campaign threats to halt American offshore wind projects.
His anti-wind agenda has stifled clean energy growth in Maine and the rest of New England where ocean wind is regarded as crucial for meeting long-term electricity demands, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and boosting economic development.
Now some in the industry have turned their attention north, to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia where that country's first ocean wind development is gaining speed.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston laid out the project's ambition in a promotional video released earlier this year.
"What if Nova Scotia could power up to 27% of Canada’s energy needs?" Houston said. "Think about that — that would make Nova Scotia an energy superpower."
The proposal is called Wind West, a massive infrastructure development that would exploit more than 60 gigawatts of potential ocean wind power off Nova Scotia's coast, many times the province's 2.5 gigawatt demand. The plan calls for a major transmission development to carry that power to big cities further west.
And Nova Scotia is eyeing the northeast U.S. as a potential customer too.
"This energy is very valuable - New England has massive extra energy needs and they are certainly not alone," Houston said in the video.
The province has been working on Wind West for years. But it may gain new relevance as the Trump administration upended New England's offshore wind power plans.
The government temporarily halted construction on the nearly-complete Revolution Wind development off Rhode Island, threw other plans under scrutiny, erased wind energy development areas in the Gulf of Maine and terminated $34 million in funding for a specialized wind power port in Salem, Massachusetts among other moves aimed at suppressing the industry.
"There’s still a lot of real interest in continuing these projects, but it is simply impossible at this time," said Adrienne Downey, a director with consulting firm Power Advisory and expert in offshore wind power.
Downey said the administration's moves could put offshore wind development in the northeast back at decade at least. It could also jeopardize a goal of securing abundant power for the region as electricty demand is soaring. Regional grid operator ISO New England estimates an 11% growth in demand in just the next decade.
Nova Scotia is a possible new source of that power, Downey said.
"If we can’t build it here, and we can’t build enough capacity through other resources fast enough, is that a potential opportunity for the northeast to tap into? We’ll see."
Meanwhile, Grant Provost, business officer for the iron workers union in Maine, sees opportunities in Nova Scotia's proposal. U.S. workers are already employed global companies likely to help build Nova Scotia's wind farms, Provost said. And they've got experience and union connections that could set them up for jobs if the Wind West project moves forward.
"The possibility of U.S. workers who already have the skills and the certifications that are needed for offshore wind going to Canada to supplement their marketplace while they stand it up is high," Provost said.
Nova Scotia's plan is still in early stages and its success isn't certain. The province plans to lease offshore areas that could generate 5 gigawatts of power by early next year. It's also waiting to see if the Canadian government will designate Wind West a "project of national interest" that would provide financial incentives and streamlined permitting.
Elisa Obermann, executive director of Marine Renewables Canada, a trade group, said it is too early to speculate if Nova Scotia's plans will attract developers and investors feeling shut out of the U.S. market.
But Obermann said her group has seen a recent noticeable increase in membership from U.S. companies and organizations. Attendance at Marine Renewables Canada's annual conference in Halifax this week was almost double what it was last year, Obermann added.
"You know, there’s that possibility that investors will be looking at Nova Scotia and Canada, because there is a real opportunity developing there," Obermann added.
The Nova Scotia Government declined an interview request.
But in a statement, it said that due to policy uncertainty in the U.S., developers, supply-chain companies and investors are looking for a stable jurisdiction the province can provide.
"Capital allocated to the Eastern seaboard in the United States now needs a home and we see opportunity for it to be invested in Nova Scotia," said Adèle Poirier, a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Department of Energy.
