Trump admin backs Christian monastery’s fight against wind farm ‘monstrosities’ 

A historic Christian monastery is fighting a proposed wind farm that it says would surround the property and disrupt the peaceful setting where worshippers pray, serve and bury their dead.

Holy Trinity Monastery, an Orthodox Christian monastery in Jordanville, New York, about 30 minutes north of Cooperstown, fears the wind project could “destroy” one of the main reasons pilgrims visit the monastery – its serenity, local news outlet WKTV first reported. The Trump administration is backing the monastery’s fight, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) told Heartlander News.

The monastery, which has served the community for nearly a century, sits near the area where Terra-Gen LLC hopes to build its Rolling Hills wind project. The project remains in the early planning stages, and Terra-Gen told Heartlander News it expects to build about 50 turbines in rural Herkimer County, where the monastery is located.

“It would nearly encircle us,” the Rev. Luke Murianka, vicar bishop of the Eastern American Diocese, told WKTV on Tuesday. “People come very frequently to their loved ones in the cemetery, and they’ll ask us to do a special memorial service. And they stand there, with the grave and the cross… and these monstrosities.”

The final number of turbines and the project’s footprint will be determined during the permitting process, a Terra-Gen spokesperson said, adding that the company expects the project’s footprint to be substantially smaller than early estimates.

The monastery has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places for 15 years, according to National Park Service records.

“There should be some sort of protection under that,” Archimandrite Nektarios, business manager at Holy Trinity Monastery Seminary, told WKTV.

Fighting foreign projects

A USDA spokesman told Heartlander News that “the Trump USDA stands with Holy Trinity Monastery as they work to protect this historic property from foreign-owned wind projects.”

Terra-Gen is jointly owned by Masdar, the United Arab Emirates’ state-backed green energy company, and Igneo Infrastructure Partners, a global investment manager.

“The Trump Administration has been crystal clear that we should not be reliant on unaffordable, unreliable energy sources as we work to assert the President’s Energy Dominance Agenda,” the USDA spokesman said.

The Trump administration has previously moved to revoke wind project permits, including for a project in Idaho approved during the Biden administration that was planned near a World War II memorial. The administration has instead promoted conventional energy sources, including coal, oil and natural gas, as well as baseload power sources such as nuclear energy.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has also become involved in disputes involving agricultural land. In August 2025, the USDA announced it would stop providing incentives for solar projects built on “prime farmland.”

Rolling Hills is the third wind project developers have proposed near the monastery, WKTV reported.

“The first project would have put 90 wind turbines to the east, about a mile from where we are sitting right now. They are four times higher than our bell tower,” Murianka said.

People come to the monastery to pray, and Orthodox Christians traditionally face east while praying.

Church officials told WKTV that about 4,000 people are buried on monastery grounds and that pilgrims visit from around the world, including Europe, Canada and South America.

They also told the outlet they face a more difficult fight after New York expanded the authority of its Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) in 2024. ORES has final authority over permits for renewable energy projects such as wind and solar farms, and church officials said they worry local communities will have less input on projects such as Rolling Hills.

State Sen. Joseph Griffo, a Republican, introduced legislation to repeal ORES and told WKTV the office is a “big problem … [and a] bureaucracy with no real accountability.”

New York has some of the nation’s most aggressive climate goals, though Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, eased some implementation timelines this year because of concerns over consumer costs.

The church is opposing the project on several fronts, seeking help from attorneys, elected officials and federal agencies, including the USDA, while also rallying community support. It plans to host a conference organized by Stop Energy Sprawl on Saturday about stopping the project and is circulating a petition with more than 11,700 signatures.

Craig Rucker, president of the conservative nonprofit Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), told Heartlander News the monastery’s fight reflects a broader national debate.

“The Holy Trinity Monastery’s fight against the proposed Rolling Hills wind project in Jordanville, New York is a powerful reminder of what’s at stake,” Rucker said. “For nearly a century this sacred site has offered peace, prayer, and pilgrimage. Communities and faith institutions should not be sacrificed for unreliable energy sprawl.”

(Image credit: Screenshot/WKTV)