One Of Massachusetts' Hottest Industries Faces Uncertainty Under Trump

The clean energy industry has emerged as a top growth driver for Massachusetts’ economy in recent years.

Billions of dollars from the federal and state governments have spurred a series of new wind projects off the Massachusetts coast, projects accompanied by large-scale industrial terminals along the waterfront. The funding has also supercharged the state’s cleantech industry, creating a new growth segment that has helped backfill some of the space left vacant by the biotech sector’s pullback.

The state has added nearly 50,000 clean energy workers since 2010, and the industry contributed $14B to Massachusetts’ gross state product in 2022.

But now, that growth could be at risk.

President-Elect Donald Trump has said several times that he plans to repeal federal clean energy funding, including the Inflation Reduction Act, and end offshore wind production on "Day 1" of his second term. His victory has led local officials and clean energy companies across the country to assess the impacts of a Trump presidency and begin to act.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey last month said the outlook for the state’s booming clean energy had become clouded by Trump winning the election.

"As we look ahead, there's a certain amount of uncertainty with the new administration. But I firmly believe that the fabric of this industry, of this clean energy industry, is strong," Healey said at an IBEW Local 223 event in Taunton Nov. 19.

Late last month, French energy company TotalEnergies paused development of its $4.4B Attentive Energy wind farm off the coast of New York, with an executive saying that the company could revive the plans if a more environmentally friendly president takes office.

As Massachusetts officials work to find solutions to a potential federal funding gap, the major offshore wind projects and cleantech companies that have relied on that funding for their expansion might also be forced to halt plans until a new administration comes in.

"The Inflation Reduction Act has been a cornerstone element to the very recent uptick in renewable and clean energy in our area of the country, and really across the country," Suffolk Construction Head of Sustainability Steven Burke said.

Since the Healey-Driscoll administration took office in 2022, the state has received $8.1B in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act, according to the state. Of that total, $1.2B has come from the IRA.

The Biden administration has been scrambling since the election to get more IRA money out the door before Trump takes office, including money to advance clean energy projects through the Department of Energy's $400B lending program, which has funded projects from electric vehicles and batteries to geothermal and nuclear energy production, The New York Times reported.

Trump aides have criticized this program, and the conservative Project 2025 agenda recommended that it be reformed or eliminated.

Trump's transition team has called for a shift toward fossil fuels, including boosting liquified natural gas and an increase in oil drilling off the coast.

Burke said he isn't sure if IRA funding will be depleted if Trump takes office because many red states and districts across the country have benefited from the funds. To claw back the money, Congress — including many politicians representing these areas — would need to vote to repeal it.

"The sentiment is that it is safe, but we don't really know," Burke said.

Two weeks after Trump was elected, Healey signed a pair of bills that could help bolster Massachusetts' clean energy industry if the federal government pulls back.

On Nov. 20 the governor signed a $4B economic development bill that is slated to invest $400M in clean energy industries over the next decade. On Nov. 21, she signed a climate bill that would work to streamline clean energy projects' advancement through siting and permitting.

Healey said in a statement before the economic development bill passed that it would "help us keep our competitive edge and lengthen our lead in the clean energy and climatetech industries."

Danielle Burney, a spokesperson for the state's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said in a statement that the climate bill is a "critical step in accelerating clean energy deployment and ultimately reducing costs for taxpayers."

"What the state is doing at their level of promoting these regulations and legislations to help prop up the industry, of course, it's going to help, but the rate of acceleration and adoption probably will be influenced at some level by what happens with these other federal supporting mechanisms," Burke said.

Greg Sampson, a partner at Sullivan & Worcester, served on the state Commission on Energy Infrastructure Siting and Permitting that helped draft regulations for the climate bill. He said that getting the bill passed was a priority for officials who are unsure of what could happen under the new administration.

"The offshore wind and the potential for leases to be revoked is probably a concern," Sampson said. "A lot of these projects are past the point where they aren't on shaky ground, but I can't even begin to predict what will happen with Trump."

The quasi-public Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has been a recipient of state and federal funding in the past and will receive part of the state's new investment to push forward several offshore wind projects across the state's coast. The agency saw an initial investment of $444M in leveraged funds for seven port projects across the coast, including three offshore wind development projects.

The state’s first purpose-built offshore wind terminal opened in New Bedford in 2015, and it secured a lease with Vineyard Wind. The project includes a 30-acre industrial facility on the coastline that is used to stage, assemble and deploy offshore wind turbines for the wind farm off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

In August, MassCEC announced plans to expand the facility’s outdoor staging area for heavy equipment by 5 acres. The terminal expansion will also include a warehouse and office space for the offshore developer tenant, according to MassCEC. For the expansion, the agency acquired abutting real estate from former seafood companies in three separate deals totaling $10M, The New Bedford Light reported.

Another major wind farm project is moving forward in Salem. In partnership with the city of Salem and Florida-based Crowley, MassCEC in February received approval to work on a new offshore wind terminal and is now in a preconstruction phase, according to its website.

The Salem Offshore Wind Terminal would transform a former coal-fired power plant into a 47-acre terminal project that will support the construction of the nation's first floating offshore wind research site in the Gulf of Maine.

In addition to space for storing and assembling wind turbine parts, the project includes building a storage shed, two office trailers and reconstructing a delivery pier, according to Crowley. The terminal will also be used to dock passenger cruise ships.

At the end of 2022, MassCEC reported that the agency supported 108,450 clean energy jobs, making up 2.8% of the state's workforce, growing 80% since 2010, according to its 2023 Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Report.

"MassCEC’s offshore wind terminals in New Bedford and Salem are driving the growth of the offshore wind industry while creating new opportunities for workers and local economies," Bruce Carlisle, managing director of offshore wind at MassCEC, said in a statement.

Offshore wind isn't the only sector in Massachusetts that has seen a boost from state and federal climate funding.

Cleantech, tough tech and climate tech companies have begun to expand operations in the state due to its strong startup culture and proximity to intellectual capital from universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Greentown Labs, a climate tech incubator in Somerville, has seen a massive increase in the number of startups that have expanded from its space and have gone on to grow across the state.

The incubator has helped grow more than 500 companies with a 90% survival rate, according to the company's 2023 impact report. The companies have generated more than $5.7B for climate-related tech and have created more than 11,000 jobs.

These companies have taken space that was previously eyed for life sciences firms, including more than 50K SF at Berkeley Investments’ 64 Pleasant St. The developer signed MIT spinout company Via Separations in March 2023 at the project, which was designed as a life sciences conversion. Alsym Energy signed a 60K SF lease at the developer's 200 Exchange St. lab development in Malden, according to The Real Reporter.

Berkeley Investments Director of Asset Management Dan McGrath said the company has seen a bump in cleantech companies signing leases as the region's life sciences growth has slowed and left space on the market.

"​​Our biggest leases in 2024 and 2023 were actually with cleantech companies," McGrath said at Bisnow's Boston Biotech event on Tuesday. "What you will see is other sectors of the economy that are growing, like cleantech in Massachusetts, will increasingly sort of take advantage of that availability where they [had] kind of been priced out before because of life science companies."

Decarbonized cement technology company Sublime Systems was awarded $87M from the Department of Energy earlier this month to help facilitate the build-out of a new facility in Holyoke. The facility was one of 33 projects that received a combined $6B in federal investment to help provide American clean industrial manufacturers with a competitive advantage.

Suffolk’s Burke said those types of projects could be in jeopardy after the new administration takes office.

"Even though that money is probably safe, that's just one example of just one company where a change in the leadership at the federal level could put some of these companies in a precarious situation in terms of getting the funding that they were anticipating," Burke said.