That option, however, may not be available for long as President Trump’s assault on offshore wind energy threatens to unravel tens of millions of dollars invested here to build a hub of docks, terminals, and training programs to support the burgeoning industry. The Trump administration has halted or canceled more than half a dozen projects in federal waters off New England, leaving just one, Vineyard Wind, moving forward — at least for now.
At risk are not only thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity, but also the vision of a modern, growing maritime economy for a community whose history and identity are intertwined with the sea. The $4 billion Vineyard Wind project, which is about 30 percent complete, is estimated to have supported more than 3,400 jobs and is projected to generate nearly $800 million in economic output for the state, much of it in New Bedford, according to study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Springline Research.
“It boggles my mind that they want to stop something that is generating the economy, providing work opportunities for Americans, and creating a whole new industry,” said David Langlais, business manager of Iron Workers Local 37, which represents about 50 workers at Vineyard Wind. “This is a real tragedy.”
New Bedford, among the richest cities in the United States during the whaling heyday of the 19th century, and later a center of textile manufacturing, has long struggled economically as it sought to replace those faded industries. Fishing and seafood processing provide an anchor for the local economy, which boasts the most lucrative fishing port in the country.
But New Bedford remains one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts with a household median income that is just 55 percent of the state’s and an unemployment rate, 6.6 percent, nearly 2 percentage points above the state average.
Offshore wind, meanwhile, has offered a new source of jobs and investment for the city and Southeastern Massachusetts. Since 2023, Vineyard Wind has pre-assembled and transported turbine parts from New Bedford’s Marine Commerce Terminal, a 29-acre complex of cranes, warehouses, and staging areas operated by the quasi-public Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
Offshore wind has been a key component of New Bedford’s economic strategy for more than a decade. In 2013, the state invested about $110 million to redevelop a vacant site along the working waterfront into the marine terminal complex, fueling the city’s ambitions to become the “epicenter of this new industry.”
The Healey administration recently committed another $45 million to expand the terminal.
Today, workers, trucks, and forklifts maneuver through the terminal, the roar of engines and clank of metal drowning out the howl of wind coming off the Atlantic. Turbine blades, each the length of a football field, sit in neat rows, waiting to be aligned, installed, and welded by Brito and other millwrights.
Brito found her way into mechanics by working on cars with her father growing up. A vocational program in high school intended to place her in a diesel car repair shop after graduation, but opportunities dried up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brito took a job in retail.
She also began training as a millwright, a highly skilled trade that involves installing, repairing, and maintaining heavy machinery and industrial equipment. She became enthralled by the offshore industry when she watched the massive blades and other turbine parts getting shipped out to sea.
Brito got a job with Vineyard Wind last year, more than doubling the $15 an hour she had earned in retail. Her earnings — which will grow as she moves from apprentice to journeyman — has allowed her not only to support herself, but also, following her father’s death last year, to help her mother pay the mortgage.
“I’m so grateful that I have work close to home, and be in my environment,” said Brito. “I feel so proud working in something that’s affecting my community.”
Wages on the project can range from $30 to $60 an hour depending on type and seniority, according to union officials.
All of this is in jeopardy as Trump’s attacks against the offshore wind industry put jobs, business opportunities, and public and private investments at risk, said Jennifer Downing, executive director of the New Bedford Ocean Cluster, the city’s maritime business organization. Already, local businesses have lost contracts and revenue after the administration’s cancellation of wind projects in federal water, she said.
On a recent Friday afternoon, offshore wind workers wearing yellow vests crowded Miguel’s, a Portuguese restaurant that is a five-minute drive from the terminal. Juan Miguel, the restaurant’s manager, said the offshore wind boom has meant a steady flow of customers, but he fears Trump’s policies could bring that to an end.
“It would be a lot worse for business and the economy if they stop the projects,” said Miguel. “It’d be nice to tell Mr. Trump to finish playing with wars and start creating more jobs.”
Across the street at the Harbor Hotel, the general manager, Kim O’Keefe, said the wind projects are attracting hundreds of workers from around the globe, and filling hotel rooms. Both occupancy rates and revenues are up, said O’Keefe, who declined to say by how much.
“We were all very excited when offshore wind was coming,” she said. “It’s brought the city and the community a great amount of business, and nobody wants to see that go.”
Offshore wind has also brought lots of jobs. The UMass Dartmouth study estimated that 70 percent of the jobs created during the construction of Vineyard Wind went to workers in New Bedford and nearby communities.
Bristol Community College in New Bedford has invested more than $2 million to transform an old fish-packing warehouse into a offshore wind training center. The site, called the National Offshore Wind Institute, has certified more than 300 workers for the offshore wind industry since its opening last year.
Uncertainty about the industry’s future may slow that pace. Unions such as Millwrights Local 1121 have stopped sending members to offshore training programs until the sector stabilizes, said Andy Benedetto, the millwright’s business representative.
For now, the work continues. Both Downing, of the New Bedford Ocean Cluster, and New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said they are optimistic that offshore wind industry will recover from the Trump administration’s efforts to gut it.
“When it does,” said Downing, “ports like New Bedford will be ready and, I’d venture to say, in an even better position to seize the opportunity.”
Brito and co-workers are still loading turbine sections onto vessels that cruise through Buzzard’s Bay to the Vineyard Wind site 35 miles away. There, hundreds of workers spend weeks at sea building turbines three times the size of the Statue of Liberty.
One of the workers is 41-year-old Eric Troia, an industrial painter and foreman from Fall River. He said when he started working in offshore wind three years ago, he felt like a “pioneer of American offshore.”
He hasn’t given up on the industry. Its potential to meet growing energy demand, provide jobs, and support a modern, electricity-hungry economy will overcome temporary policy shifts, he said.
“I was told this kind of work is the biggest opportunity we were going to do in our lifetime,” he said. “They weren’t lying.”
Yogev Toby can be reached at yogev.toby@globe.com.
