Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is set to attend a ritzy luxury getaway for this weekend while a Republican congressman calls out a project that has seemingly stalled under his watch.
Moore will be attending the Sun Valley Conference this weekend, his spokesperson told ABC7 News. The Conference is a yearly get-together which sees the rich and the powerful gather in Sun Valley, Idaho, to strike deals, earning the event the nickname “billionaire’s summer camp.”
Meanwhile, Moore’s flagship offshore wind farm proposal has hardly broken ground on an Ocean City, Maryland, wind farm, according to an ABC7 News investigation. The contractor for the project, US Wind, has yet to hire any of the 550 steelworkers they promised to employ for the project, a United Steelworkers Union official said.
US Wind has yet to even start construction on a steel fabrication plant in Baltimore County crucial to developing the windmills for the wind farm, a company spokesperson told ABC7.
Back in 2023, the governor committed to a plan for 100% renewable energy by 2035. Moore signed the Maryland Promoting Offshore Wind Energy Resource, or Maryland POWER Act, in 2023, setting a production goal of 8.5 gigawatts of power by offshore wind by 2031. The project was also estimated to create 12,000 jobs full-time jobs within the state.
The governor moved to boost the project by reaching a memorandum of understanding with the Biden administration on developing offshore wind and announcing federal funding to the tune of $4.7 million for training in 2024.
Climate change is a threat but it is also an opportunity to build a green economy.
I’m proud to have signed the POWER Act, which nearly quadruples Maryland’s offshore wind energy goals.
Together, we will create green jobs and enough energy to power nearly 3 million homes. pic.twitter.com/7rdgSezKEf
— Governor Wes Moore (@GovWesMoore) August 31, 2023
US Wind had anticipated that they would start producing clean energy in 2025, according to a press release. The firm is owned by the Italian holdings company Toto Holding S.p.A., another company statement said.
Republican Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, whose Ocean City district is adjacent to the planned wind farm, blasted US Wind as a foreign-owned company.
“It’s not an American company, it’s an Italian company that cleverly put ‘US’ in their American subsidiary’s name,” Harris told ABC7.
“I don’t think they care about the United States. All they care about is those tax credits, they care about the subsidies that will flow to offshore wind and making profits from those subsidies,” Harris concluded.
US Wind is the sole owner of contracts for Maryland’s wind farm plan after another contractor, Ørsted, withdrew from the project in 2024.
When pressed earlier in the week about the slow-moving progress of his core energy proposition, Moore was evasive. (RELATED: Rogue Windmill Blade Crashes Onto Highway, Injuring One And Ruining Commutes)
“Well, you know, we continue to work with all of our partners to ensure that, as we say, that our state, that we go from no-and-slow to fast-and-now,” Moore said in response to ABC7’s question on why the site appeared inactive.
Wes Moore & US Wind, the only offshore wind company with an active project off Ocean City’s coast, promised a Baltimore manufacturing site that will support over 550 high-paying jobs.
Despite the 2025 target, construction hasn’t begun, and the site remains relatively dormant. pic.twitter.com/00xe8MMMy4
— Gary M. Collins (@realgarycollins) July 9, 2025
“We believe in making sure that we are coming up with a strong energy future for the people of the state, and we will work with all of our partners to make sure we can deliver that as quickly as possible,” Moore continued.
Moore told The Associated Press in June that he’s not running for president. Despite his words, the governor is currently listed as the fourth most traded option to become the Democrats’ presidential candidate in 2028 on Kalshi, a betting market that allows users to predict political outcomes.
Moore’s seven percent trails only former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 10, Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 12 percent and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the current field leader at 16 percent.
Moore’s trip to Idaho will put him in the same room as billionaire power brokers like Apple CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman and Disney chief Bob Iger, who are all in attendance, according to CNBC.
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