Feds deny Maine’s request for $456M to help build offshore wind port

The federal government turned down Maine’s request for a $456 million grant that would cover most of the cost of building an offshore wind port on Sears Island, officials confirmed Tuesday.
The Maine Department of Transportation had applied in May for $456 million from a competitive federal fund focused on multimodal transportation. Following protests from environmentalists, tribes and Republicans, the state picked Sears Island over nearby Mack Point earlier this year for the staging area of the offshore wind port and said the project will cost $760 million.
Transportation Commissioner Bruce Van Note said Tuesday the application was not successful. It is a notable setback to a project eyed for completion in 2029, but the state is seeking another $130 million from a separate federal program to help. Van Note said the state “knew the grant program would be extremely competitive and that our application was ambitious.”
“We believe the result is a reflection of the fiercely competitive nature of this program and that it does not reflect, or undermine, the widely-recognized need for this port, the strong merit of Maine’s plan or the vast economic and environmental benefits associated with port development,” Van Note said in a statement.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Monday that 44 projects covering a range of purposes were selected to receive more than $4.2 billion for programs funded via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Maine’s application was not on the list, beaten out instead by projects such as a Philadelphia port expansion that will receive $217.2 million.
A Department of Transportation spokesperson said they do not comment on applications for the National Infrastructure Project Assistance and the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant programs but noted the department received about 200 applications seeking more than $27 billion, which far exceeded available funding.
Maine’s port would be the first purpose-built one in the U.S. accommodating floating turbines. The cost includes construction of a semi-submersible barge that would lower turbine parts into the water and prepare them for installation.
Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, and an alliance of business, environmental and labor groups have said the offshore wind port is key to Maine meeting its climate goals that include using 100 percent renewable energy by 2040. 
Jack Shapiro, the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s climate and clean energy director, noted Tuesday the $456 million application was for a grant program that comes up annually and that the state is pursuing other funding.
“Today’s news has not changed the fact that we need a port to create good, union jobs, power our economy with affordable, clean, homegrown energy and protect our coasts and communities from the worst impacts of climate change,” said the alliance that includes Shapiro’s group and others, such as the Maine Labor Climate Council and Maine Conservation Voters.
Friends of Sears Island Vice President Rolf Olsen, whose group has advocated for using Mack Point for the wind port, said the application’s denial “will put more pressure on prospective commercial developers, taxpayers and utility ratepayers.”
Searsport Town Manager James Gillway, whose town backs the project, said he remains “confident that this project will create good paying local jobs, lower taxes for our residents and will attract families to help put kids in our schools.”
After years of planning and public feedback, Mills announced the decision to use about 100 acres of the 941-acre Sears Island instead of the privately-owned Mack Point that handles shipping and rail traffic. Mills pointed to how the state already owns Sears Island and said it would cost far less to develop.
The conservation-minded alliance in favor of using Mack Point instead of Sears Island has argued the port would harm the wildlife, hiking and birding opportunities that draw visitors to the largest undeveloped island in Penobscot Bay.
Federal regulators have designated 2 million acres off the Maine coast for wind development, heeding calls from politicians and fishing interests to exclude a key lobstering area. The federal government is holding an offshore wind auction Oct. 29 for eight lease areas off Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
If fully developed, the areas could generate about 13 gigawatts or power more than 4.5 million homes. Though previously touted by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, offshore wind has become more controversial the closer it has come to fruition in Maine.
The looming election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump could also affect offshore wind’s future. President Joe Biden’s administration has aimed to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, which it said would power more than 10 million homes and avoid 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. But Trump has vowed to halt offshore wind projects on “day one” if he returns to the White House.