The war against wind power has moved onshore.
Days removed from ensuring the demise of the U.S.offshore wind industry and effectively reneging on its associated promises of clean power and leaving a mess for states to deal with,the Trump administration is doing a solid for some legislators in Idaho who have been complaining about a particular wind project for years,canceling the 1 gigawatt(GW)+Lava Ridge Wind in Jerome,ID.
“Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is restoring common sense to American energy policy by reversing the Biden administration’s misguided,last-minute push to approve the Lava Ridge Wind Project,an enormous and unpopular 1,000-megawatt wind facility in southern Idaho,during the final days of the former president’s term,”reads the beginning of a decree issued Wednesday.“The Department of the Interior will no longer provide preferential treatment towards unreliable,intermittent power sources that harm rural communities,livelihoods,and the land,such as the Lava Ridge Wind Project and the radical Green New Scam agenda that burdens our nation and public lands.”
Last December,the Bureau of Land Management(BLM)signed off on a neutered version of Magic Valley Energy’s plan for the project,situated northeast of Twin Falls,Idaho.That plan would’ve decreased its proposed turbines from 400 to 241;231 on BLM-managed lands and 10 on property owned by the state.The plan also imposed a maximum height limit of 660 feet for the turbines,which BLM determined was consistent with public and community feedback regarding the protection of sensitive natural and cultural resources-namely the nearby Minidoka National Historic Site,where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during WWII.Under the approved plan,Lava Ridge’s closest turbine would be nine miles away.
The proposed location of Lava Ridge Wind.Courtesy:BLM
“The BLM spent hundreds of hours in the field and in conference rooms talking with Native American leaders,Japanese American community members,cooperating agencies,ranchers,and a broad range of people with deep ties to the Magic Valley,who all helped shape the proposal,” explained BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning last year.“Those discussions led to a final decision that balances clean energy development that the country needs and the protection of resources that are vital to the natural and cultural history of the West.”
According to BLM,the project’s environmental impact statement was the culmination of more than 30 months of public outreach that included more than 1,400 scoping comments and 11,000 public comments.
However,Interior now claims that it reviewed the Biden administration’s decision to approve the project and“discovered crucial legal deficiencies in the issuance of the approval,including unique statutory criteria that were ignored.”No evidence of those“deficiencies”was provided,and the Interior Department’s statement rescinding Lava Ridge’s approval did not mention Minidoka.
“Under President Donald Trump’s bold leadership,the Department is putting the brakes on deficient,unreliable energy and putting the American people first,”stated Secretary Burgum.“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.”
Who Has Beef with a Remote Idaho Wind Farm?
Several Idaho Republicans have been particularly vocal(dare I say,whiny?)about Lava Ridge for quite a while,but were unable to stop five years of progress until Trump was reelected.
“Thanks to the U.S.Department of the Interior and Secretary Doug Burgum’s leadership,the Lava Ridge project is dead once and for all,”Senator Crapo said.“This harmful proposal by the previous Administration willfully neglected widespread opposition from the local community.I am glad to see President Donald Trump fulfilling his commitment to making sure Idaho voices on this matter were heard and respected.”
Transmission lines that would connect Lava Ridge Wind to the grid.Courtesy:BLM
Fellow Senator Jim Risch(R-ID)has long maintained that Lava Ridge is“ill-begotten,”“unwanted,”and“unnecessary.”In 2024,Risch introduced the Don’t DO IT Act,which would require the Secretary of the Interior to deny any wind or solar energy project proposed on public land that is disapproved by the State legislature.Idaho’s State legislature unanimously passed a resolution in March 2023 expressing opposition to the Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project.Risch was quick to condemn BLM’s approvals at each step of the project’s progress.
“I made the promise that this wasn’t going to be built,and this promise is going to be a lot easier to keep with Donald Trump having been elected,”Risch told Boise’s NBC affiliate last year.
Risch was certain that Trump,who is notoriously opposed to wind power(particularly the offshore variety),would sign an executive order to put a stop to Lava Ridge’s development.While that wasn’t quite how it shook out,Trump’s disdain for anything spinning on a monopile certainly helped Risch’s efforts to take a gigawatt of clean energy out of his state.
“It will be really,really easy for the President to put a wooden stake in the heart of the Lava Ridge project.We’re going to do everything we can to make that happen,”Risch said in his aforementioned weekend TV appearance.“Anybody who thinks this project is going to get built is delusional,”he added.
In January,Idaho Governor Brad Little signed E.O.2025-01“Gone with the Lava Ridge Wind Project Act,”which directed all state agencies to cooperate with the Trump administration’s review process,and during the review,multiple state agencies provided the Bureau of Land Management with letters describing a significant lack of consultation throughout the original review process for the project.In addition,in February,the Idaho House of Representatives unanimously voted to oppose Lava Ridge.
