A report suggests Oklahoma is among some of the states that have the most at stake in the anti-wind push by President Trump and his administration and they total billions of dollars on projects. Further, it could come at a time when there is a growing demand for the production of more electrical power for new data centers in the state.
According to Canary Media, Oklahoma has $24.16 billion in wind projects at risk. It is among some $317 billion in lost investment, based on new analysis from research firm Cleanview.
“The impact of this lost investment would be felt across the country. But the damage would disproportionately impact Republican-led states like Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa,” stated Cleanview.
It reached the figure based on 790 projects totaling 213 gigawatts that developers hope to build in the coming years. But Cleanview says they also are at risk of delay or even cancellation under the policies of the Trump administration.
Based on the report, Texas has $67.57 billion in wind projects at risk. The amount in Kansas is $14.6 billion and Illinois faces $34.49 billion in projects at risk.
As Canary Media pointed out, if even a fraction of the investments is canceled or delayed, it “will be painful for the regions that miss out on the tax revenue and jobs” with Texas, Illinois and New Jersey standing to lose the most.
As the article pointed out, the timing probably couldn’t be worse because of the nation’s boom in AI data center construction, some of which is happening in Oklahoma.
” Delaying or blocking the buildout of gigawatts worth of wind projects when the U.S. is in the midst of an energy-supply crunch would drive up already-climbing power bills. Wind produced just over 10% of U.S. electricity last year,” reported Canary.