Offshore wind developers and state officials filed lawsuits after the Trump administration suspended leases for five offshore wind projects along the East Coast for at least 90 days, drawing new scrutiny over the administration’s stated national security rationale.
The administration announced Dec. 22 that it was suspending the leases for the five projects but did not reveal specifics about what it said were national security concerns. Interior Department spokesperson Matt Middleton said Wednesday that Trump had directed the Interior Department to manage public lands and waters for multiple uses, including energy development, conservation, and national defense.
Middleton described the pause as a “decisive step to protect America’s security, prevent conflicts with military readiness and maritime operations and ensure responsible stewardship of our oceans.” In a statement, he added, “We will not sacrifice national security or economic stability for projects that make no sense for America’s future.”
Equinor and Ørsted, which own major offshore wind projects in New York, were among the latest developers to sue. The companies’ limited liability companies for their projects filed civil suits late Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, according to the Associated Press.
Empire Wind LLC, which requests expedited consideration, said it faces “likely termination” if construction cannot resume by Jan. 16. It said the order was disrupting a tightly choreographed construction schedule dependent on vessels with constrained availability, producing delay costs and an existential threat to the project financing.
Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind project is also under legal challenge. Ørsted is asking a judge to vacate and set aside the order, saying the company has spent billions of dollars on Sunrise Wind and relied on validly issued federal permits. In its court filing, the company said its team met weekly with the Coast Guard throughout 2025 and met this week with representatives from other agencies, and that no one raised national security concerns.
The suspension order paused leases for Empire Wind, Sunrise Wind, and also for the Vineyard Wind project under construction in Massachusetts, Revolution Wind in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind in Virginia. Dominion Energy Virginia, developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, was the first developer to sue, asking a judge to block the order and calling it “arbitrary and capricious” and unconstitutional.
Ørsted is building Revolution Wind with joint venture partner Skyborn Renewables. The venture filed a complaint challenging the order, while Connecticut and Rhode Island filed their own request on Monday seeking a preliminary injunction that would allow work on Revolution Wind to continue.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said that “Every day this project is stalled costs us hundreds of thousands of dollars in inflated energy bills when families are in dire need of relief.” He also said, “Revolution Wind was vetted and approved, and the Trump administration has yet to disclose a shred of evidence to counter that thorough and careful process.”
Avangrid is a joint owner along with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners of the Vineyard Wind project, but the report said Avangrid had not publicly indicated whether it plans to join other developers in challenging the administration.
The administration’s action follows earlier pauses in the same projects. It previously halted work on Empire Wind and Revolution Wind, including stopping construction on Empire Wind in April, accusing the Biden administration of rushing the permits, before allowing work to resume a month later. Equinor finalized the federal lease for Empire Wind in March 2017, and the final federal approval came in February 2024. Work on Revolution Wind was paused on Aug. 22 for national security concerns cited by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and a federal judge ruled a month later that the project could resume, citing irreparable harm and a demonstrated likelihood of success on the merits.