As bone-chilling cold and Arctic winds gripped the northeastern U.S. over the past few weeks, the strain on electricity systems was evident as people cranked up their heat to stay warm. However, amidst the extreme weather conditions, early data has shown the crucial role that America’s offshore wind farms played in keeping electricity flowing during this challenging stretch.
The results highlight the irony of the Trump administration’s battle against U.S. offshore wind development, which has been ongoing and potentially unlawful. While federal officials are calling for additional fossil fuel power to prevent future winter blackouts, they have also been trying to block the build-out of offshore wind, which is one of the most valuable resources for cold-climate coastal states.
At the International Partnering Forum held in New York City, Liz Burdock, president and CEO of Oceantic Network, emphasized the real-time performance data that showed offshore wind delivering reliable power when the grid needed it the most. This data underscored the importance of offshore wind at the scale required by the region and the country.
The data from January revealed that the nation’s two operating utility-scale offshore wind farms, South Fork Wind and Vineyard Wind, performed as well as gas-fired power plants and better than coal-fired facilities during the Winter Storm Fern. The 132-megawatt South Fork Wind farm, which delivers power to Long Island, New York, had a capacity factor of 52 percent last month, putting it on par with New York state’s most efficient gas plants.
Mikkel Mæhlisen, vice president of the Americas Generation division for Ørsted, which jointly owns South Fork Wind with Skyborn Renewables, praised the amazing wind capacity in the Northeast, especially during the winter months. The project, which became America’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm in 2024, has been a beacon of reliability, with a 54 percent capacity factor between December 2024 and March 2025.
Vineyard Wind, which can produce up to 600 MW of clean electricity off the coast of Massachusetts, had a 75 percent capacity factor during Winter Storm Fern. However, the project, along with four other offshore wind farms, faced stop-work orders from the Trump administration late last year citing ambiguous “national security” concerns.
Despite federal judges allowing all five projects to proceed as the developers’ complaints move through the legal system, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stated that the Trump administration plans to appeal those court rulings. The battle for offshore wind development continues, highlighting the critical role that offshore wind plays in ensuring reliable power supply, especially during extreme weather events like Winter Storm Fern. Once fully operational, the project will deliver power at a price of $84.23 per megawatt-hour to the New England grid. This price is significantly lower than the spot wholesale prices that spiked to over $870 per MWh during the recent storm on January 25th.
The recent storm in New England led to soaring gas prices and limited supplies, forcing utilities to fire up oil-burning power plants to prevent blackouts. These assets are typically too expensive to run under normal circumstances, resulting in even higher bills for residents in the region. New England has historically faced some of the highest energy costs in the nation due to its lack of recoverable resources like oil and gas, as noted by Katie Dykes, commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Diversifying the energy mix in the region would reduce the reliance on costly and polluting power plants during challenging periods. Dykes highlighted that variable resources like wind and solar can help keep a lid on prices during cold weather, reducing the need for expensive oil units and preserving the runtime of fossil fuel resources.
The offshore wind industry in America is gaining momentum, with five projects currently in progress. In New York, projects like Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind and Equinor’s Empire Wind are expected to provide 1.7 gigawatts of new capacity, meeting over 10 percent of the electricity needs in New York City and Long Island. Gary Stephenson, a senior vice president for the Long Island Power Authority, expressed hope that these projects will be completed as planned to ease the pressure on the natural gas system during extreme weather events.
Stephenson mentioned that the region could have benefited from having the Sunrise Wind facility online during the recent cold snap. The municipal utility serves 1.2 million customers and is looking forward to connecting its grid to Sunrise Wind, expected to start operating in 2027. The completion of these offshore wind projects will not only enhance the region’s energy resilience but also contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable energy future for New England.
