Federal judge clears Empire Wind to resume construction, second court loss for Trump this week

The ruling is the second in three days to rebuff the administration’s late-December freeze on five major offshore wind projects, which officials cited on national security grounds but have not elaborated in court on what threat the construction itself poses.

A federal judge on Thursday cleared New York’s Empire Wind offshore wind project to resume construction, handing Norwegian energy company Equinor a victory and dealing the Trump administration its second federal court defeat this week in its effort to halt East Coast offshore wind development.

District Judge Carl J. Nichols, a Trump appointee, ruled that construction could proceed while he considers the merits of the government’s suspension order. Nichols faulted the administration for failing to respond to key points in Equinor’s court filings, including the contention that the administration violated proper procedure when it issued the freeze.

Empire Wind is 60% complete and designed to power more than 500,000 homes. The project sits about 14 miles off the New York coast. Equinor spokesperson David Schoetz said the company welcomes the court’s decision and will continue to work in collaboration with authorities.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul applauded the ruling, telling reporters the projects had been “stopped under the bogus pretense of national security.”

“When I heard this I said one thing: I’m the governor of New York, if there is a national security threat off the coast of New York, you need to tell me what it is. I want a briefing right now. Well, lo and behold, they had no answer,” Hochul said.

Second defeat in three days

The Trump administration froze five large offshore wind projects on the East Coast days before Christmas, citing national security concerns. Developers and states sued to block the order.

On Monday, Senior Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Danish energy company Orsted could resume construction on Revolution Wind, a project serving Rhode Island and Connecticut that is nearly complete. Lamberth said the government did not sufficiently explain the need for a complete stop to construction. Revolution Wind is 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, with a hearing still to be set.

More cases move forward

On Thursday, Vineyard Wind LLC — a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners — filed a complaint in federal District Court in Boston over the pause on its Massachusetts project. Dominion Energy Virginia, which is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, planned to ask a federal judge Friday to block the administration’s order so it can resume construction.

Security rationale challenged in court

During a Wednesday hearing ahead of Thursday’s ruling, Judge Nichols said the government’s main security concern appeared to center on the operation of wind turbines rather than their construction, though the government pushed back on that characterization.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr., presenting the government’s case, disputed any distinction between construction and operation.

“I don’t see how you can make this distinction,” Woodward said, likening it to a nuclear project whose construction would present security risks regardless of whether it had been turned on.

Molly Morris, Equinor’s senior vice president overseeing Empire Wind, said the company wants to build the project and deliver what she described as a major, essential new source of power for New York.

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.

Global offshore wind context

While legal battles play out in U.S. courts, the global offshore wind market continued to expand. China led the world in new offshore wind installations, according to the Associated Press. The British government said Wednesday it 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.

Large, ocean-based wind farms are central to East Coast states’ plans to shift to renewable energy, given limited available land for onshore wind turbines or solar arrays.