Federal permitting delays and recent stop-work orders under the Trump administration have slowed construction of several offshore wind projects while essentially freezing further investment in many others.

According to ISO-NE data, the average cost for gas for producing power during January was $24.25 per million British thermal units. That translates to roughly $170 just to produce 1 megawatt-hour of electricity for a plant with average efficiency. In other words, that additional wind generation could have cut costs by an estimated $2.3 million a day.

A ~$71 million saving in monthly costs may not seem significant, but that represents just a sliver of New England’s potential offshore wind capacity. Three other large offshore projects are fully permitted but not yet under construction, largely because of the administration’s consistent opposition to the sector, and there are other large wind leases nearby.