On August 6th, the Trump administration terminated the controversial Lava Ridge Wind Project in Idaho’s Magic Valley.
Approved by the Biden-Harris administration in December 2024, Lava Ridge would have comprised 231 wind turbines standing 660 feet tall on over 57,000 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public land acres. The original proposal would have allowed 400 wind turbines towering 740 feet above ground on 73,000 BLM acres.
The Department of Interior said in a press release that the project received special treatment from the previous administration and further declared that unreliable, intermittent wind projects like it aren’t going forward. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said:
By reversing the Biden administration’s thoughtless approval of the Lava Ridge Wind Project, we are protecting tens of thousands of acres from harmful wind policy while shielding the interests of rural Idaho communities. This decisive action defends the American taxpayer, safeguards our land, and averts what would have been one of the largest, most irresponsible wind projects in the nation.
This action is consistent with the January 2025 executive order on the “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects.”
Separate from my responsibilities as Independent Women’s Center for Energy and Conservation Director, I personally investigated the Lava Ridge Wind Project for my CFACT original video series “Conservation Country” in August 2022. Our report first brought national media attention to this project in January 2023 after it was picked up by Fox News host Jesse Watters. From there, it resulted in policy changes in Idaho and action taken by Idaho’s Congressional delegation.
Our investigation determined that the Lava Ridge Wind Project posed threats to the former Minidoka Japanese Internment Camp (now Minidoka National Historic Site), National Eastern Snake River Aquifer, migratory birds, and local wildlife. Even the touted electricity benefits from wind power were overstated: We discovered the power from Lava Ridge would be shipped to California and Nevada—not remain in Idaho.
Despite decades of subsidization, onshore and offshore wind energy doesn’t account for a large share of our energy mix. Today, wind only accounts for 10.2% of net U.S. electricity generation.
Last year, wind generation slowed down for the first time in 30 years. As I noted here at Independent Women:
A new Energy Information Administration (EIA) report revealed U.S. wind energy generation (onshore and offshore) decreased by 2.1% in 2023, despite the sector adding 6.2 gigawatts of new capacity power. This is the first decrease reported since the 1990s.
This week, Orsted lost at least 30% of its stock value and is expected to be bailed out by the Danish government. Many Orsted projects were cancelled between 2023 and 2024 due to rising interest rates and inflation. These companies are too dependent on government support and have no private market backing.
To learn more about wind energy, go HERE.