GE Vernova Shareholders Demand Answers as Wind Power Loses All Momentum

Energy News Beat

At GE Vernova’s annual shareholder meeting this week, activist investors are pressing the company for greater financial accountability on its wind power business and broader sustainability commitments. The push comes as the company’s Wind segment continues to post significant losses amid softening orders, project challenges, and shifting U.S. policy on subsidies—issues that extend beyond GE Vernova to much of the global wind industry.

Activist Pressure at the Annual Meeting

The National Center for Public Policy Research’s Free Enterprise Project (FEP) is presenting Proposal 4, a “Sustainability ROI Audit.” It calls for a report applying traditional financial analysis—such as net present value (NPV) and return on investment (ROI)—to the company’s major sustainability goals.

FEP Executive Director Steve Milloy plans to tell shareholders that GE Vernova “is losing money on wind turbines” and will “continue to lose money for the foreseeable future.” He argues there is “no future in wind power,” citing the withdrawal of subsidies, lack of economic sense for AI-driven power demand or U.S. re-industrialization, and increased reliance on China for rare earth minerals. Milloy described wind technology in stark terms and urged management to “abandon the climate hoax and all its baggage—like junk wind technology, subsidies from taxpayers and inflation-causing higher electricity prices.”

The supporting statement emphasizes that the audit would not restrict sustainability efforts but would impose consistent financial discipline and transparency, strengthening accountability to shareholders.

GE Vernova’s Q1 2026 Reality: Strong Overall, Wind as a Clear Drag

GE Vernova’s first-quarter 2026 results, released April 22, paint a picture of a company firing on most cylinders—except Wind.

Overall highlights:Orders: $18.3 billion, +71% organically.
Revenue: $9.3 billion, +16% (+7% organic).
Net income: $4.7 billion (boosted by a $4.5 billion pre-tax gain from acquiring the remaining stake in Prolec GE).
Adjusted EBITDA nearly doubled year-over-year.
Free cash flow: $4.8 billion.
Backlog grew $13 billion sequentially to $163 billion.
Raised full-year 2026 guidance: Revenue $44.5–45.5 billion, adjusted EBITDA margin 12–14%, free cash flow $6.5–7.5 billion.

Wind segment performance:Orders: $1.2 billion (+85% organic, off a low base).
Revenue: $1.4 billion (–23%, –25% organic), hit by lower onshore equipment deliveries from soft 2025 orders.
Segment EBITDA: –$382 million loss (widened from prior year), driven by lower onshore volumes, tariff impacts, and higher offshore contract losses—only partially offset by services.

For the full year 2026, management guides Wind’s organic revenue down low-double digits with approximately $400 million in segment EBITDA losses—similar to the prior year. The company completed installations at projects like Vineyard Wind (U.S.) and Dogger Bank A (U.K.), but onshore U.S. market softness and tariffs remain headwinds.

How GE Vernova Makes Money for Investors

GE Vernova is not a pure-play wind company. It operates three main segments: Power, Electrification, and Wind.

Power (Gas Power, etc.): Booming. Gas turbine backlog and slot reservations surged from 83 GW to 100 GW in Q1, with a target of at least 110 GW by year-end. Strong demand for reliable, dispatchable power to support data centers and grid stability. This segment is a major profit driver.
Electrification: Accelerating rapidly. Q1 equipment orders for data centers alone reached $2.4 billion—more than all of 2025. The full acquisition of Prolec GE (grid equipment) adds significant scale and is already contributing to raised guidance. Grid modernization for AI, electrification, and reliability is a clear growth engine.
Wind: Currently a drag on earnings but benefits from a large installed base (~59,000 turbines, 120+ GW) that generates recurring services revenue. Equipment margins are under pressure.

Bottom line for investors: The company is generating strong free cash flow, raising guidance, returning capital via buybacks and dividends, and capitalizing on structural demand from AI/data centers and the need for reliable power. Wind losses are real and guided to persist at ~$400 million in 2026, but they are being offset by strength elsewhere. The stock has reflected this divergence in performance since the GE spin-off.

Not the Only Wind Company Struggling

GE Vernova’s wind challenges are not unique—they reflect broader sector headwinds that have plagued turbine makers and developers for years.

Vestas (world’s largest turbine maker): Reported improved Q1 2026 results with revenue of ~€4 billion (+14% YoY) and positive EBIT margin before special items of 3.2% (up significantly). Order intake and backlog remain solid; full-year guidance maintained. Profitability is recovering, but was under pressure previously.

Siemens Energy / Siemens Gamesa: Overall company showing strong momentum with record orders and improved earnings in early 2026. The Gamesa wind unit has narrowed losses and improved margins (moving from deeply negative toward a break-even trajectory), with a raised outlook for the year. Still restructuring legacy issues.

Ørsted and others: Faced major writedowns on U.S. offshore projects, job cuts, portfolio reviews, and suspended dividends in recent years due to inflation, supply chain issues, and project delays.

The wind sector broadly dealt with post-COVID inflation, higher interest rates, supply chain disruptions, and permitting delays—particularly painful for capital-intensive offshore projects. Some stabilization is appearing in 2026 as manufacturing ramps and selective orders return, but consistent profitability remains elusive for many, especially in equipment manufacturing.

Subsidies Drying Up? U.S. Policy Shift Hits Wind Economics

A major factor behind recent U.S. onshore wind order softness is the changing subsidy landscape. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (signed July 4, 2025) accelerated the phase-out of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) clean electricity tax credits (Sections 45Y and 48E) specifically for wind and solar. New wind and solar projects generally must begin construction by around July 2026 or be placed in service by the end of 2027 to qualify—effectively shortening and tightening the window compared to prior long-term support. Executive actions have reinforced enforcement, pausing certain offshore leases and directing reviews of preferential treatment for wind/solar versus dispatchable sources.

This policy shift reduces the taxpayer-funded incentives that previously supported project economics, contributing to softer U.S. demand and pressuring turbine manufacturers like GE Vernova. Europe’s support mechanisms continue in varying forms, but the sector there has also faced its own profitability and execution challenges.In short, wind power’s reliance on subsidies has been curtailed in key U.S. markets, forcing projects to stand more on their own economic merits amid higher costs and competition from reliable alternatives like natural gas for data center and industrial demand.

The Bigger Picture for Investors and the Energy Transition

GE Vernova shareholders are right to demand clarity on Wind’s path to profitability and the ROI of sustainability initiatives. The data shows Wind is currently loss-making and guided to remain so in 2026, while the rest of the business—Power and Electrification—is capitalizing on explosive demand for electricity infrastructure.

Wind is not “losing all momentum” globally in terms of installations, but its profitability and unsubsidized economics face real tests, especially in the U.S. GE Vernova’s strategy appears to be leaning into its strengths in reliable power and grid solutions while managing the Wind segment through services, selective orders, and cost discipline.

For investors, the story is one of a diversified energy technology company navigating a complex transition: strong tailwinds in core growth areas offsetting acknowledged weaknesses in one segment, against a backdrop of evolving policy that is reducing certain green subsidies. They are trying to do the right thing for their stakeholders and shareholders. Follow the products that support proffits without subsidies.

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