Work on Revolution Wind, a major offshore wind farm planned to provide power for Rhode Island and Connecticut, can resume after a federal judge ruled Monday that the U.S. government did not provide enough explanation for stopping the project while it reviews national security concerns.
At the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Senior Judge Royce Lamberth said the government did not explain why it could not take action short of a complete stop to construction on Revolution Wind while it considers ways to mitigate its national security concerns. The judge also said the government did not provide sufficient reasoning for its change in position.
Revolution Wind has received all of its federal permits and is nearly 90% complete, according to the record described in court. The decision offered the offshore wind industry at least a temporary victory as President Donald Trump seeks to shut down multiple projects, and three energy developers pressed their challenges in federal court.
Orsted, Norwegian company Equinor, and Dominion Energy Virginia each sued to ask courts to vacate and set aside the administration’s Dec. 22 order that froze five major offshore wind projects on the East Coast over national security concerns. Orsted’s hearing was first, while Equinor’s and Dominion’s were scheduled later in the week.
At Monday’s hearing, attorney Janice Schneider, representing Revolution Wind, said the stop work order arrived at a critical stage, with the project nearly 90% built and weeks away from beginning to deliver power to the electric grid. Schneider told the court the delay was costing more than $1.4 million per day and that a specialized vessel had just enough time to install the remaining turbines before its contract ends in February.
Schneider said the developers take national security issues seriously, but the government had not shared more information about its concerns with experts who have security clearances, nor provided unclassified summaries. She also told the court that it should be very skeptical of the government’s “true motives” for the halt, citing Trump’s remarks from Friday.
Trump has repeatedly criticized offshore wind, saying the United States “will not approve any windmills.” In comments described by the report, Trump also said offshore wind farms are “losers,” that they “destroy the landscape and kill birds,” and he suggested he was pushed into federal action only because a “stupid person in the Biden administration agreed” to do something previously.
In response, a Department of Justice attorney, Peter Torstensen, argued that national security is paramount and that protecting against new risks identified in classified materials outweighs the developers’ allegations of irreparable harm. The judge’s ruling referenced the project’s prior pause: work on Revolution Wind had been paused on Aug. 22 for national security concerns cited by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and a month later Lamberth ruled the project could resume, citing irreparable harm and the likelihood of success on the merits.
Orsted is building the Revolution Wind project with Skyborn Renewables, according to the report. In a statement after Monday’s hearing, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said, “The law takes precedent over the political whims of one man, and we will continue to fight to make sure that remains the case.”
With four offshore wind projects still stalled, Hillary Bright, executive director of Turn Forward, said she was hopeful the remaining developers would prevail in court. Bright said the nearly complete projects can deliver “the immense benefits that these nearly complete power sources can bring to our nation’s energy and national security.”
Equinor owns Empire Wind, and its Empire Wind LLC said the project faces “likely termination” if construction cannot resume by this Friday because of a tightly choreographed schedule dependent on vessels with limited availability. The report also said Molly Morris, Equinor’s senior vice president overseeing Empire Wind, described offshore wind as part of an “all-of-the-above energy solution.”
Dominion Energy Virginia, which is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, was the first to sue. The company asked a judge to block the freeze, calling the order “arbitrary and capricious” and unconstitutional.