A federal judge in Washington cleared the Sunrise Wind offshore wind project to resume construction Monday, moving a project aimed at supplying power to New York homes back onto track after a federal pause put it on hold late last year. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that the government did not show that offshore wind poses an imminent national security risk that would justify stopping the project in the United States.
The decision came during litigation over a Trump administration order issued in December that halted work on multiple large offshore wind developments along the East Coast. According to the Associated Press, federal officials cited national security concerns when they froze five major projects just before Christmas, and developers and states sued to block the order.
In Monday’s ruling, Lamberth found the government’s national security justification insufficient to continue the construction halt for Sunrise Wind. The Associated Press report said Lamberth cited similar reasons to those used earlier when he allowed construction to proceed on Revolution Wind, a Rhode Island and Connecticut project that also faced the federal freeze.
Sunrise Wind said it would resume work as soon as possible. The Associated Press reported that the project is roughly 45% complete and is expected to be operational next year, after months of uncertainty tied to the pause.
The Associated Press report also said it was not clear whether the administration would appeal. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management declined to comment on the litigation.
The broader court sequence described by the Associated Press means that, by Monday, all five projects affected by the December freeze had been cleared to resume construction by federal judges. The report said other federal judges had already allowed construction to restart in January for Empire Wind in New York, for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind in Virginia, and for Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts.
State and political leaders framed the decisions in terms of energy supply and national security. In a statement, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the ruling a “big win” for the state’s future and said, “energy independence is national security.” New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, sued the Trump administration over halting Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind, saying the pause threatens the state’s economy and energy grid.
Hillary Bright, executive director of the offshore wind advocacy group Turn Forward, warned that the pause and associated delays impose financial costs and operational risk beyond the projects themselves. The Associated Press report quoted Bright saying: “At a time when electricity demand is rising rapidly and grid reliability is under increasing strain,” the projects represent “critically needed utility-scale power sources” that are making progress toward completion.
Court filings described the financial pressure from stop-work orders. The Associated Press report said Sunrise Wind LLC told the court that the stop-work order was costing the project at least $1.25 million per day and that the figure would increase in February if construction could not resume, adding that if the stoppage continued past the first week of February the company might be forced to cancel. The report also said Orsted described Sunrise Wind as being at least 30 miles east of Long Island’s Montauk Point and said the project would generate 924 megawatts, enough clean energy to power about 600,000 New York homes.