Wind projects are stalled because the Pentagon is not completing national security reviews that, in the Pentagon’s description, are required to ensure wind installations do not interfere with U.S. military operations or national security. In a statement Thursday, the Pentagon said it has a siting “clearinghouse” actively evaluating land-based wind energy projects under statutory and regulatory requirements, and that the process involves complex interagency coordination.
The claim of a breakdown in that coordination came from the American Clean Power industry association, which said the Pentagon has held up more than 250 onshore wind farms on private land. The group said the Pentagon stopped sending projects back to the Federal Aviation Administration in recent weeks, a change it said has halted the FAA’s review process.
Under the FAA framework that wind developers navigate, the FAA conducts a regulatory review to determine whether turbines over 200 feet pose hazards to air navigation. The FAA works with defense officials to evaluate whether the structures could pose a national security risk or interfere with radar, and wind developers and defense officials often negotiate mitigation agreements to address those concerns.
The industry association said that process began showing problems last summer, when agreements already signed to mitigate potential adverse impacts were not being countersigned by the Pentagon, which the group said had previously been routine. It said the situation worsened in recent weeks: the Pentagon stopped issuing new draft mitigation agreements in February even after negotiations had concluded, then in April canceled meetings to work on those agreements, and last week, it said routine processing for projects that did not require mitigation measures also stopped.
Jason Grumet, the association’s CEO, said in comments on the dispute that there had not been anything like a backlog of the size described by the group and a near-systemwide halt in transmittals back to the FAA. Grumet called the delay a “de facto moratorium” on new land-based wind energy development, adding that if projects remain stalled, it would obstruct the industry at a time when power is needed and when wind energy can help lower utility bills.
The association said more than 250 projects are pending in over 30 states, totaling at least 30 gigawatts that could power millions of homes if built. It said about 50 of those pending projects are in Texas and that wind is also positioned as a climate change solution because it generates electricity without emitting planet-warming greenhouse gases.
In its response to the industry’s concerns, the Pentagon acknowledged the clearinghouse’s role in reviewing siting. It also said that review will continue in a way intended to avoid compromising the integrity of the process, and that its role in evaluating energy development proposals—particularly wind turbines—is inherently complex and time-consuming. The Pentagon official who addressed those concerns in writing, Robert Thompson, said in a letter dated April 8 that the department is actively working to ensure wind projects’ compatibility with the national security of the United States and that further review will be conducted “as soon as feasible.”
Thompson, identified as the Pentagon’s principal deputy assistant secretary for energy, installations and the environment, also cited delay due to the government shutdown in the fall. In his letter, Thompson said the department intends to complete review of all companies’ proposals efficiently without compromising the integrity of the review.
A separate letter to a wind developer, dated April 9, said similar things about the need for time-consuming coordination. The industry association said many of the projects are at late stages and that Baringa, a consultancy firm, told clients they are stuck and that “nothing is being signed.” Tom Harper, a partner at Baringa, said many projects must begin construction by a July 4 deadline to qualify for expiring clean energy tax credits but cannot meet those timelines without the signatures needed to move forward.
The broader political context includes President Donald Trump’s past criticism of wind power, including remarks that turbines are ugly and talk about a hatred of wind power. After returning to office, the Trump administration ordered a temporary halt to leasing and permitting for wind energy projects, and a federal judge struck down the order blocking wind energy development. The administration has also sought to stop offshore wind development, including by buying back leases, the association noted as a part of the same policy backdrop.
For wind projects on private land, the dispute now hinges on the next step in a two-agency process that includes both the FAA’s aviation safety review and the Pentagon’s national security checks—an interaction the industry association says has stopped moving at the pace needed for construction schedules and tax credit deadlines.