Rep. Reagan Paul (R-Winterport) urged the federal government to revoke the four remaining offshore wind leases in the Gulf of Maine in a letter on Tuesday signed by numerous Republican lawmakers.
[RELATED: Federal Government Moves to End Offshore Wind Development, Including in the Gulf of Maine…]
“Floating offshore wind remains too experimental, too costly, and too disruptive for the people of Maine to bear. We are grateful for your leadership in protecting our costal economy and energy independence and we stand ready to work with you to Make the Gulf of Maine Great Again,” said Rep. Paul in her letter.
Paul represents Searsport and Sears Island, where an off-shore wind development is planned for construction.
Her letter drew signatures from the Republicans on the Legislative Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Technology, as well as from Republican legislative leadership, including House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) and Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook), along with several other state senators and representatives.
In the letter, Paul called on Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to cancel the four offshore wind leases that have not already been stopped by the Trump administration.
The lease rights were auctioned off near the end of former President Joe Biden’s term in office in October 2024. Companies Avangrid Renewables and Invenergy NE Offshore Wind bought the leases for a “bargain-basement” rate of just $50 per acre.
The leases amounted to 444,000 acres.
Paul highlighted past failures in Gulf of Maine wind development projects.
“These projects remain economically unviable and technologically unproven, with no power purchase agreements in place,” said Paul.
“Despite hundreds of millions of dollars in public investment, The University of Maine’s VolturnUS floating wind platform consistently failed to pass federal scalability tests over the past two decades, including the most recent evaluations in 2024,” she added.
She accused Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) and groups such as the Natural Resources Council of Maine of pushing an ideology-driven agenda through their support for offshore wind development.
Paul tied Maine’s skyrocketing energy costs to Gov. Mills’ “net-zero” energy policies that promote the use of expensive and inefficient energy production methods like wind power. Maine’s average residential energy costs rose by a staggering 36 percent from 2024 to 2025.
[RELATED: Maine Has Highest 2024-2025 Energy Cost Increase With Staggering 36% Hike…]
“These price hikes are the direct result of Mills’ net-zero climate policies, the 2008 Expedited Wind Law, and the costly and unreliable promise of floating wind-energy that is three to six times more expensive than conventional alternatives,” said Paul.
She called on Burgum and Wright to not only revoke the four remaining leases, but also to cancel the lease for the Maine Research Array, which is intended to consist of 10 offshore turbines that would test UMaine-developed offshore wind technology.
She also called for a complete review of offshore wind developments to refocus energy policy on affordability and reliability, and for the cancellation of Maine’s upcoming Fall Bottom Trawl Survey.
The trawl survey, set to last from September 25 to November 30, will, Paul claims, threaten fishing grounds and the habitat of the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
The Trump Administration has already taken action to stop offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Maine, including by preventing all leasing of coastal waters for offshore wind development.
