The same day that hundreds of tons of concrete floated into Penobscot Bay for advanced offshore wind research years in the making, the Trump administration sent a letter to the University of Maine ordering that all work on the project immediately halt.
The Department of Energy gave no clear explanation for why it was demanding the school stop work on its roughly $12.6 million grant from ARPA-E, the nation’s most innovative research incubator for energy projects and a particular favorite of Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
The DOE also issued similar letters ordering that all work halt for two smaller grants awarded to the university, both also related to offshore wind.