A federal judge cleared the way Thursday for a New York offshore wind project to resume construction while he considers the merits of a government order to suspend it, according to a court filing report by the Associated Press.
District Judge Carl J. Nichols, a Trump appointee, ruled that construction on the Empire Wind project could go forward as he reviews the government’s request to halt the work. The judge faulted the government for not responding to key points raised by Empire Wind in its court filings, including an argument that the administration violated proper procedure.
Equinor owns the Empire Wind project. A spokesperson for Equinor, David Schoetz, said the company welcomed the court’s decision and would continue working in collaboration with authorities.
The decision came as the Trump administration’s offshore wind pause has already faced setbacks in court this week. The administration froze five large offshore wind projects along the East Coast days before Christmas, citing national security concerns, and it had targeted offshore wind from early in Trump’s White House term.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul praised the ruling, telling reporters that the projects had been “stopped under the bogus pretense of national security.” Hochul said that if there was a national security threat off the coast of New York, officials should tell her and provide a briefing right away, and she said “well, lo and behold, they had no answer.”
The AP reported that on Monday, another judge ruled that Orsted could resume its Revolution Wind project, which is intended to serve Rhode Island and Connecticut. Senior Judge Royce C. Lamberth said the government did not sufficiently explain the need for a complete stop to construction, and the report said Revolution Wind is nearly complete and expected to meet roughly 20% of Rhode Island’s electricity needs and about 5% of Connecticut’s electricity needs.
Orsted is also suing over the pause of its Sunrise Wind project for New York, and the AP said a hearing in that case had yet to be set. Dominion Energy Virginia, developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, planned to ask a judge Friday to block the administration’s order so it could resume construction. The AP said Empire Wind is about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) offshore, while Sunrise Wind is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) offshore.
Another paused project, Vineyard Wind, is under construction in Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind LLC, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, joined other developers in challenging the administration’s action and filed a complaint in District Court in Boston, according to the AP report.
The AP also described the broader offshore wind landscape beyond the United States, saying the global offshore wind market is growing, with China leading in new installations. It said nearly all of the new electricity added to the grid in 2024 was renewable, and it cited a British government auction result in which the government secured a record 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind in Europe’s largest offshore wind auction—enough clean electricity to power more than 12 million homes.
In New Jersey, opponents have sought to defend the pause. Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast New Jersey, said the Trump administration was right to stop construction on national security grounds and urged officials to immediately appeal the adverse rulings and seek to halt all work pending appellate review. The AP said opponents of offshore wind projects are particularly vocal and well-organized in New Jersey.
For Empire Wind itself, the AP said the project is 60% complete and is designed to power more than 500,000 homes. It said Equinor has argued the project was in jeopardy because of limited availability of specialized vessels and heavy financial losses. During a Wednesday hearing, the AP reported that Nichols said the government’s main security concern seemed to be over operation of the wind turbines rather than construction, and it said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. disagreed with making that distinction and compared the government’s position to a nuclear project risk.
Molly Morris, Equinor’s senior vice president overseeing Empire Wind, said in an interview that the company wants to build the project and deliver a major, essential new source of power for New York.