The price tag for Sunrise Wind, New York’s flagship 924-megawatt offshore wind project, has become increasingly difficult to pin down as costs escalate and financial assumptions shift. Early state documents put the project’s cost at roughly $1.5 billion, but industry analysts now say a more realistic figure is somewhere between $6 billion and $9 billion once inflation, supply-chain pressures, and higher interest rates are factored in.
Ørsted, which owns 100 percent of the project, has not publicly stated a firm estimate—one that most likely will not be finalized until construction is complete over the next few years.
To keep the project alive, the Danish company has taken extraordinary steps to raise capital. After failing to “farm down” a stake in Sunrise Wind—its preferred model of selling partial ownership to reduce risk—the company turned to shareholders with a massive $9.4 billion rights offering. Two-thirds of that infusion was earmarked for Sunrise Wind alone, underscoring both the size of the undertaking and the difficulty Ørsted faces in securing private partners willing to shoulder U.S. offshore wind uncertainty.
Where that money ultimately comes from, however, is not in dispute. The project’s financing structure ensures that Long Islanders will cover the bulk of Sunrise Wind’s cost. A 25-year Offshore Renewable Energy Certificate contract with the state guarantees Ørsted a fixed payment for every megawatt-hour produced—paid directly through electric bills.
At the federal level, Inflation Reduction Act incentives, including a 30 percent Investment Tax Credit, could shift billions more onto U.S. taxpayers. With the Trump Administration souring on wind projects, federal support may dry up, leaving New Yorkers to carry the burden alone. Critics warn that Gov. Kathy Hochul may throw the company a taxpayer-dollar lifeline—an investor bailout that could make one of the highest-taxed regions in the nation even more unaffordable.
While Hochul has not released a clear accounting of how much Sunrise Wind will raise electric bills, her office has previously reported only a few dollars per month for the average household. The true cost to consumers—and the final price of the nation’s largest wind project—will only become clear once the turbines start spinning.