RI Grades “F” for Insufficient Wind/Solar Decommissioning
PUBLISHER’s NOTE: In yet another example of how policymakers failed to conduct any level of appropriate cost-vs-benefit analysis when they set our state upon a “net zero” strategy and passed RI’s “Act On Climate” in 2021, it has now come to light that there has been zero planning for the payment and disposal of wind turbines and solar panels when they wear out or require replacement, which is anticipated to occur within the next 20 years.
In addition to setting our state on path that cannot possibly provide enough affordable and reliable energy, necessary to support our future economic growth, Ocean State lawmakers also completely ignored long-term disposal items, which could create both financial distress for taxpayers as well as an environmental hazard.
The column below, by adjunct scholar to our Center, Allen Brooks, provides the disturbing details.
Energy Musings – October 30, 2025
The National Center for Energy Analytics produced a report on the potential decommissioning liability for wind and solar due to inadequate state regulations.
R.I. And Nation Unprepared For Renewable Energy Decommissioning
The National Center for Energy Analytics (NCEA) just published a report and an issues paper on the cost of decommissioning the wind and solar energy generators currently installed. The report, “State-by-State Assessment of Financial Assurances Required for Decommissioning Wind and Solar Facilities,” was based on a survey of each state’s rules for decommissioning energy facilities, including nuclear, coal, oil and gas, wind, and solar. The report was prepared by Curtis Shule, a lawyer and Executive Director of the Council to Modernize Governance, and Mark Mills, the Executive Director of the NCEA. (Note: We are an NCEA senior scholar.)
The issues paper, supported by the research report, asks the question: “Who Pays When Wind Turbines and Solar Panels Wear Out? A Hidden Energy Liability.” That is a great question. The cost to remove equipment and reclaim the land under the generators already in place, as well as those predicted to be installed in future years, is estimated at $50 billion. Because not all states have strict decommissioning requirements, including the posting of financial commitments to pay that cost, Americans may be at risk of having to pay some or all of this liability.
The decommissioning liability may not seem like much. It is only $151 per person for the 330 million people living in the U.S. today. For a family of four, it is a $600 burden. However, whatever the amount, it is a cost they should not be responsible for. Furthermore, the estimate assumes that the various equipment cost estimates are accurate and will not increase in the future.
We have seen reports suggesting that the estimates for removing offshore wind turbines are much higher than those provided by developers and regulators. That shouldn’t be a surprise. These estimates are based on the current understanding of what is involved, the future cost of those services, and whether the technologies to be employed actually work. The decommissioning issue also involves the salvage, recycling, and disposal of components, as well as the associated environmental hazards.
Wind turbine blades are a classic example of those challenges. They are made from plastics and other materials that cannot be recycled. Therefore, the industry’s decommissioning solution is to bury the blades in landfills, as pictured below. How much land must be devoted to wind turbine blade cemeteries? Moreover, what is the environmental risk from the ultimate deterioration of the structures with their poisonous materials leaching into the earth?
A wind turbine blade cemetery.
According to a new database assembled by the U.S. Department of Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the American Clean Power Association, 11,700 wind turbines have been decommissioned. Most are from wind farms built in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The wind blade cemetery shows just some of the 35,000-plus blades that are no longer needed.
To put that total of decommissioned wind turbines into perspective, we currently have 76,051 turbines in 1,794 wind farms, according to the database. That is a lot of blades that will need to be buried in the future.
The problem for the industry is that there are abandoned wind farms, such as the one shown in the picture below, that have yet to be decommissioned. The image is a screenshot from a YouTube video by evmoFPV from 2023, documenting the Patterson Pass Wind Project near Livermore, California, which was constructed in 1985 by the French utility company EDF Renewables and abandoned in 2014. The California wind farm, one of many scattered throughout the state, had a peak output of 20.5 megawatts.
The abandoned Patterson Pass Wind Project in California.
Without adequate decommissioning requirements and adequate financial resources available to the state, the nation may see more of such sights in the future. Until the wind turbines are destroyed by neglect and corrosion, abandoned wind farms look like operating farms where the wind isn’t blowing.
The NCEA report included the following map showing each state’s rating for its decommissioning requirements for wind and solar projects. The report also lists a rating for each state’s treatment of oil and gas well decommissioning, assuming the state has such resources. It also discusses the standards for decommissioning nuclear and coal plants.
Wind and solar decommissioning ratings by state.
When you examine the map, what you see is only one state, Virginia, ranked A. There are eight states with a B rating, followed by nine with a C rating. That means 32 states were ranked either D or F. Although there has been substantial grade inflation since we were in school, we still believe D and F ratings are not acceptable. We are also left wondering what the respective state politicians and regulators are thinking.
It is interesting that in New England, half the states are D or F, including New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. For states that are aggressively pursuing the development of renewable energy and the phase-out of fossil fuel energy, the ratings suggest that they are nowhere near prepared for the future they desire.
What is very interesting is the rating of the offshore energy industry. Because those activities are primarily in federal waters, the regulation is overseen by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The survey report assigned BOEM a D for offshore wind, while it rated an A for offshore oil and gas.
Rhode Island is an interesting case for offshore wind, as it hosts the first-ever offshore wind farm – Block Island Wind. The project was constructed in state waters; therefore, its decommissioning would fall under the state’s F-rated system. On the other hand, offshore oil and gas resources are found in state waters in four states: Alaska, California, Louisiana, and Texas. All of those states are rated A for decommissioning regulations for oil and gas. The remainder of the nation’s producing oil and gas wells are in federal waters and subject to BOEM, which has an A rating.
How can one energy source be regulated at the highest level, while another is barely above a failure? Does it have to do with a political agenda? We are afraid that is the conclusion to be drawn from the data. One of the first major offshore wind projects, Vineyard Wind I, requested a waiver from the requirement to post a decommissioning bond, as required by law. The developer claimed that without the waiver, the added cost of the bond would make Vineyard Wind I unfinanceable. Why would that be the case? It is because these projects are built under limited liability corporations. Their financing structure requires substantial debt to help boost the rate of return the developer can earn on the limited amount of equity invested. Too much debt causes financial institutions to shy away from the projects.
BOEM granted Vineyard Wind I a 15-year waiver for posting the decommissioning bond. We believe all the offshore wind farms under construction have been provided with such bond waivers. The government argues that these wind farms maintain insurance, so there is little risk during the first half of the estimated 30-year life of these projects. However, not many offshore wind farms last for 30 years, so what happens if they must be decommissioned earlier?
While the focus has been on the decommissioning requirements and costs, we are reminded of another issue that poses a risk for East Coast offshore wind farms. That is the risk of damage from tropical storms. This came to our mind as we watched news reports tracking Hurricane Melissa, which devastated Jamaica with 185-mile-an-hour winds when it made landfall a few days ago.
The 1938 Long Island Express was one of the deadliest and costly hurricanes.
Offshore wind turbines are reportedly designed to withstand winds of up to 125 miles per hour, but it is unclear whether Mother Nature has actually tested them to that extent. We wondered what the East Coast would look like if a Melissa-like hurricane followed the path of the 1938 Long Island Express hurricane, which made a direct hit on New England. The storm is rated as one of the deadliest and most destructive storms to strike the U.S. It was a Category 5 storm (157-mile-an-hour or higher winds) as it approached the Mid-Atlantic region, and was a Category 3 storm (111-129-mile-an-hour winds) when it made landfall on September 21, 1938, on Long Island. It is estimated that the storm caused 682 deaths, damaged or destroyed 57,000 homes, and caused property losses of $306 million ($4.7 billion in 2024 dollars).
Such a storm today would be more costly because of the increase in population and development. Better weather forecasting and hurricane preparedness would likely sharply reduce the death toll, but not necessarily the destruction to property and infrastructure. The damage is likely to affect most of the offshore wind turbines, resulting in significant environmental harm.
Preparing to deal with a devastating hurricane requires planning. However, what the nation is doing by not considering that all energy equipment wears out and must be replaced or removed is a bigger potential failure. State legislatures and regulators must rethink their existing decommissioning policies. Failure to do so leaves state residents at risk of financial liabilities that they should not bear.
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