PROVIDENCE — While New England’s permitted offshore wind projects continue to be built, a specter called President Donald Trump continues to hang over the region’s energy supplies.

Fed up, members of Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation, together with Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and labor and environmental groups, gathered near the onshore wind turbines in the Port of Providence recently to put the Trump administration on full blast.

On July 16, Neronha and seven other attorneys general filed two notices of intent to sue the U.S. Department of the Interior over what it sees as “unlawful” settlements with Bluepoint Wind LLC, Invenergy Wind Offshore LLC, and Invenergy NE Offshore Wind LLC.

Both companies had agreed to withdraw their planned offshore wind projects off the coast of New York and Maine, which would supply the Northeast with enough electricity to power some 3 million homes.

The lawsuit from eight states asserts that the cancellation of the offshore wind leases will harm the economy, energy grid, and public welfare of the states, and that the Department of the Interior violated federal law by failing to hold a hearing or showing that continuing the leases would cause serious harm to life, property, national security, or the environment.

“We knew when Revolution Wind was coming on board, it would save Rhode Islanders and New Englanders about $500 million a year in cost,” Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said during the July 20 gathering. “That money could be put toward other family expenses. That money would help families get ahead. Without it, we are now seeing them struggling, struggling, struggling.”

Rhode Island’s delegation hammered home the impact that stopping offshore wind projects off New England would have on residents’ pocketbooks. Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., said Interior Secretary and former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, prior to joining the Trump administration, bragged how he had made the Peace Garden State a leader in onshore wind energy and industry job creation.

“Rhode Island is leading the country in offshore wind. We are proving the point, but we are doing it in a context where President Trump and the Republicans in Washington care more about culture wars and cashing checks from the fossil fuel industry than they do about lowering costs for everyday Americans,” Magaziner said.

New England’s pre-existing offshore wind projects are safe; but not for a lack of trying. While Revolution Wind, Vineyard Wind, and South Fork Wind are either operational or close to completing construction, it hasn’t stopped the Trump administration from attempting to halt the projects.

Notably last year, the Trump administration issued stop-work orders twice to Revolution Wind, only for the orders to be overturned by the courts weeks later.

The remaining offshore projects, such as the 84-turbine Sunrise Wind, which is halfway through its construction process, or SouthCoast Wind, was just barely awarded final federal approvals by the outgoing Biden administration, are more in doubt. A lawsuit filed in April brought on by the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head seeks to stop the Sunrise Wind project, claiming it will degrade ancestral waters, block historic views from Gay Head Cliffs, and harm the North Atlantic’s population of right whales.

Electric prices to rise this winter

Meanwhile, Rhode Island Energy announced Thursday that electricity prices this winter would be even higher than last year. The utility company is proposing raising winter electricity rates to 17.03 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), 15% higher than the previous year.

The company estimates it will cost electric customers an additional $12 for every 500 kWh used monthly. That price increase doesn’t include the additional $8 Rhode Island Energy is seeking to increase the base distribution rate.

So instead of focusing on Trump during Monday’s event, it was Rhode Island Energy that Neronha turned his sights toward.

“We can’t blame Donald Trump for everything that goes sideways with our energy policy. We can’t blame Donald Trump, and we can’t attribute to Donald Trump our lack of progress on clean energy here at home,” Neronha said. “We are wholly the captive of one fossil fuel company for our energy, and that’s Rhode Island Energy, and they have proven time and time again that they don’t have your best interests at heart.”

Offshore wind turbines are already starting to provide electricity to the region. Amanda Barker, clean energy program manager for Green Energy Consumers Alliance, said the wind turbines installed at sea already provided energy during heavy peak loads during the July 4 holiday weekend.

While offshore wind turbines typically operate at half capacity or less, South Fork Wind operated at 75% capacity over the weekend, and a 90% capacity factor on July 2, according to Barker.

“While temperatures soared, South Fork Wind was producing clean electricity around the clock to keep the lights on. That’s what energy reliability looks like,” Barker said.