Orimartin Lima’s graduation from a weeklong offshore wind safety training program last Friday was bittersweet.
The completion of the global certification through the Community College of Rhode Island was supposed to lead directly to a union job with the Revolution Wind project. But instead of shipping out to sea to climb towering turbines in Rhode Island Sound, Lima is stuck on land, watching his job, and his plan, slip away.
“I had goals, buying a house, all this other stuff that came to a halt,” Lima, 34, of Pawtucket, said in a recent interview. “Now I have all this time, so I really have been thinking too much. I (am) in my head a lot.”
The federal administration abruptly ordered work to stop on the 700-megawatt project in August under the guise of national security concerns. In response to a lawsuit filed by the project developers, a federal judge in D.C. issued a preliminary injunction in late September, letting work resume on the project that was already 80% complete. A separate lawsuit filed by attorneys general in Rhode Island and Connecticut remains under review in federal court in Rhode Island.
Local ports in Providence and New London, Connecticut, hum with activity as specialty vessels carrying workers and skyscraper-sized equipment travel out to sea. The project still appears poised to meet its mid-2026 operational deadline of supplying 700 megawatts of nameplate capacity — enough to power 350,000 homes — to Rhode Island and Connecticut.
But the monthlong pause left two dozen union painters and tradespeople, including Lima, out of the work and paychecks they were relying on for the next several months.
Meaghan Wims, a spokesperson for Orsted, the Danish co-developer of the project, confirmed in an email that painting work was rescheduled to next year to focus on more “time-sensitive tasks” while weather remained favorable and vessels available.
“Logistical planning for any large construction project is a dynamic process,” Wims said in her response. She did not comment specifically on the layoffs, but pointed to the work created through the project’s preparation and construction: more than 1,900 union jobs, with 4 million work-hours to date.
Orsted has also invested millions of dollars into ports and piers in Providence and Quonset, including a $100 million wind manufacturing hub at ProvPort intended to buoy offshore wind projects across the region. The company funded the global wind training course through CCRI that Lima just completed, with a $500,000 grant to cover the $2,500 per-person costs for the first group of trainees.
Little comfort to Justin Kelley, business manager for the local chapter of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. Less than 24 hours after the D.C. judge’s order letting work resume, he had to deliver the news to his members that they were out of work.
A ‘house of cards’ collapsed
“We were gearing up to have people working all over, on the monopiles, the substations, overlapping crews here and in New York,” Kelley said in a recent interview. “That all fell in like a house of cards. Now, we have guys out of work, members who are angry because they desperately wanted to work on this project.”
He continued, “What do I tell them now?”
Other work that was available to local trade workers is now reaching its seasonal conclusion.
“You have to have atmospheric conditions to paint steel,” Kelley said.
We were gearing up to have people working all over, on the monopiles, the substations, overlapping crews here and in New York. That all fell in like a house of cards.
Even before the cold set in, many of the major road and infrastructure projects that hire painters’ union members had been paused or canceled because of rescinded federal funding.
Despite President Donald Trump’s anti-wind directives, which had already halted reviews on other projects still awaiting federal permits, officials and industry experts initially considered Revolution Wind safe from political volatility. Project developers secured the final federal approval in November 2023.
For local union laborers, the project’s multiyear construction offered a steady source of income without having to scramble to find a new project every month or two.
“Construction workers are the [original] gig workers,” said Patrick Crowley, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. “They are constantly trying to line up work so that as soon as they end one job, they can start the next.”
Nick Reynolds, a member of the local painters union, started working on project components in ProvPort in October 2022, repainting pieces of the 40-foot-tall internal platforms damaged in transport from their Polish manufacturing site. He enjoyed the work, relishing the opportunity to be part of a new industry and the prospect of future gigs on other regional offshore wind projects.
Reynolds is still working in ProvPort, but his enthusiasm has soured in the aftermath of the stop-work order.
“I was under the impression that once all the permitting and financial process was done, there was no legal way to stop the work,” Reynolds, 35, of Providence said. “If it can be done here, it can be done anywhere.”
Jobs in jeopardy
Reynolds and his fellow union members were expecting years of good paying, steady work as more offshore wind projects begin construction. Many of those projects are now in jeopardy, with federal permits revoked, contract negotiations delayed and financing questionable.
“I can’t imagine investors are going to jump at the opportunity to spend money in a place where the projects have uncertainty attached to them,” Reynolds said.
Orsted has already reported hundreds of billions of dollars in financial impairments amid rising costs for its East Coast wind projects, including the $5 billion Revolution Wind project. Earlier this month, the company announced it will layoff 25% of its 8,000 person global workforce by the end of 2027 to shore up its balance sheet as it prepares to take on new offshore wind projects, with an eye toward Europe and the Asia-Pacific area.
Wims declined to comment on the potential for layoffs in the region.
Anticipatory anxiety is setting in for local laborers.
“People are rethinking this entire thing,” Kelley said. “They don’t want to spend hours training for a job that might not exist.”
Lima learned his job had fallen through months after signing up for a five-day safety training at CCRI to hone his abilities working at heights, sea survival and other necessary skills. The training had already been paid for so he completed it, but without much passion.
“I feel like I am spending all this time for no reason,” Lima said.
He said he could have spent that time looking for another job, or even taking some side work to help pay his bills. He already received the maximum amount of state unemployment benefits allowed for the year.
“I have money saved, but I am burning through that fast,” he said.
Lima offers a compelling example of why Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha continues to argue for a separate court order on the project in Rhode Island federal court.
“This is the problem with halting a project out of the blue,” Neronha said in a recent interview. “The people who lose, many times, include the everyday Rhode Islanders who are working on these projects.”
Legal matters
Neronha and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong continue to push for a preliminary injunction against the federal administration, protecting the Revolution Wind project from impeding their states’ environmental and economic interests.
The U.S. Department of Justice attorneys representing the administration have rebutted the AG’s request as unnecessary, given the ruling in the D.C. case more than a month ago, according to court filings. Justice Department attorneys also sought to consolidate the two cases into one in D.C.
This is the problem with halting a project out of the blue. The people who lose, many times, include the everyday Rhode Islanders who are working on these projects.
Neronha is intent on keeping the states’ case in its home court, though.
“Our interests are different from Orsted,” Neronha said. “I want to make sure we are protecting the interests of Rhode Islanders, and of people in Connecticut.”
The dueling motions remain pending before U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy as of Monday. While the government shutdown has limited hours and operations in federal courts nationwide, including in Providence, the AGs Revolution Wind lawsuit remains on schedule, Neronha said.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
