Offshore wind training programs built for boom face bust — SkimNews
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- NOWTC, a collaboration between Suffolk County Community College, the Long Island Federation of Labor, and Orsted, trained workers like Navy veteran William "Billy" Bishop, who now fears his structural inspection work on Sunrise Wind "might be the last one for a while."
- Biden's 2021 offshore wind target of 30 gigawatts by decade's end required an estimated 77,000 workers and triggered training initiatives at NOWTC, SUNY campuses via a $20 million Offshore Wind Training Institute, and Pile Drivers Local Union 56 in Boston.
- Trump's January 20, 2025 "wind order" paused all new leases and permits, and the administration later issued emergency stop-work orders on five offshore wind projects under construction — both later overturned in federal court.
- The Trump administration rolled back renewable energy tax credits, rescinded hundreds of millions in grants for offshore wind, and began paying developers to abandon offshore leases, leaving about 6 gigawatts online or under construction — less than a third of what Biden approved.
- Pile Drivers Local Union 56 trained workers to handle 1,800-ton offshore piles with support from Deme and Massachusetts Clean Energy Center grants, completing work on Vineyard Wind 1 and Revolution Wind, but business manager John Dunderdale said New England Wind and SouthCoast Wind are now on indefinite hold.
- SUNY's Offshore Wind Training Institute has shifted from offshore-wind-specific training to broader HVDC applications including solar-to-battery storage and grid integration, with senior workforce manager Derek O'Connor noting the discipline taught "does not entirely rely on offshore wind."
- NOWTC director Roger Clayman said the union will be "busy into 2027" when Sunrise Wind is scheduled for completion, but insisted "offshore wind will be back" while declining to make any workforce decisions yet.
Why it matters: Workers who upskilled for offshore construction face returning to general building trades when Sunrise Wind and other in-progress projects finish in 2027, erasing the specialized workforce just built with federal and state dollars. SUNY's $20 million Offshore Wind Training Institute has already shifted its curriculum language from offshore wind to "grid stability and reliability," signaling the industry hedge is underway before the last turbine is installed.
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