Third court order this week lets Virginia work resume while litigation continues
A federal judge ruled Friday that work on a Virginia offshore wind project could resume, the third such decision this week allowing projects to proceed despite a Trump administration pause challenged in court. The ruling clears the way for Dominion Energy Virginia to restart construction on its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project while its lawsuit targeting the government’s order moves forward.
The decision came after the administration announced last month it was suspending leases for at least 90 days on five East Coast offshore wind projects, citing national security concerns. The announcement did not provide specific details about those concerns, according to the report.
Dominion Energy Virginia wins preliminary injunction in Virginia federal court
Dominion Energy Virginia, developing the Richmond-based company’s Coastal Virginia project, was described as the first developer and state-linked plaintiff to sue in an effort to block the order. In federal court in Virginia on Friday, the judge granted Dominion Energy’s request for a preliminary injunction, according to the record from the hearing.
The injunction’s effect is to allow construction to resume even as Dominion Energy’s case challenging the government’s order continues. Dominion Energy argued that the administration’s action is “arbitrary and capricious” and unconstitutional, and after the hearing said it will focus on restarting work so the project can begin delivering critical energy in just weeks.
The company said the project is essential to meet dramatically growing energy needs driven by dozens of new data centers. Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, the report said, has been under construction since early 2024 and is planned to include 176 offshore wind energy turbines.
Other federal rulings this week lift pauses in New York and New England
Separately, judges in federal court for the District of Columbia ruled this week that construction could also resume on Empire Wind for New York, by Equinor, and on Revolution Wind for Rhode Island and Connecticut, by Ørsted. The decisions followed the administration’s suspension affecting multiple East Coast projects.
The report noted that Orsted is also suing over the pause of its Sunrise Wind project for New York. A fifth paused project, Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts, is under construction and, according to the report, joined the developers’ challenge on Thursday by filing a complaint in District Court in Boston.
Court decisions arrive as administration defends national-security pause
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said the pause is intended to protect the national security of the American people and that the administration was preparing for a fight in court. Rogers also said Trump has been clear that “wind energy is the scam of the century,” adding, “we look forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”
Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor tracking the lawsuits, said the judges effectively concluded the government did not demonstrate the national security risk was so imminent that construction had to stop. Tobias said the judges concluded Trump’s effort lacked support and that halting the work would injure the entities building the projects.
Unions and lawmakers hail the rulings
Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, applauded the federal court rulings, which he said enable union workers to return to job sites. In a statement, he said, “With energy demand surging and prices spiking, the last thing our government should do is take any form of power generation offline.”
McGarvey added that NABTU is proud to be constructing offshore wind projects “all under strong project labor agreements” and said, “These rulings mean our members can get back to work and keep affordable, clean, reliable power moving to our communities.”
Virginia’s U.S. senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, along with U.S. Reps. Bobby Scott and Jennifer McClellan, said the ruling was a victory for the state’s residents. The joint statement said residents “would face increased energy costs as a result of the Trump administration’s shortsighted opposition to clean energy.”
What the project would produce, and where it would be built
The report said the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is about 27 miles (43 kilometers) off the shores of Virginia Beach. Large, ocean-based wind farms were described as a key element of renewable energy plans in East Coast states that have limited land for onshore wind turbines or solar arrays.