Federal judge grants injunction allowing Sunrise Wind work to resume

New York State's largest wind farm got the green light to continue offshore construction work after a federal judge Monday granted Sunrise Wind's request for a preliminary injunction to set aside a Trump administration stop-work order.   

The $7 billion-plus project, which will deliver all its 924-megawatts of energy to the LIPA grid at Holbrook in late 2027, had been subject to a stop-work order by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued Dec. 22. 

The agency cited unspecified national security concerns in issuing the order and Department of Justice lawyers had presented confidential information in court to make their case, Newsday has reported. Four other wind farms under construction, including the $6 billion Empire Wind off Jones Beach, were previously granted injunctions to continue work while their legal cases against the stop-work order continue.

“Every court to review this question has now found that the loss of specialized vessels and resulting delays amounts to irreparable harm. I agree,” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said in ruling Monday, according to Bloomberg News. 

Sunrise Wind, a project by energy giant Orsted of Denmark, has continued to work on nearly complete land-based construction during the order. Overall, the company has said, the project is nearly 45% complete, with 44 of 84 monopile foundations installed as well as sections of an offshore converter station and most land-based work on Long Island. 

 "The court’s action will allow the Sunrise Wind Project to restart impacted activities immediately" while Orsted's lawsuit against the stop-work order continues, the company said in a statement. "Sunrise Wind will determine how it may be possible to work with the U.S. Administration to achieve an expeditious and durable resolution."

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said, "President Trump has been clear: wind energy is the scam of the century. For years, Americans have been forced to pay billions more for the least reliable source of energy. The Trump administration has paused the construction of all large-scale offshore wind projects because our Number One priority is to put America First and protect the national security of the American people."

On Long Island the project has garnered widespread support, including from LIPA, Brookhaven Town, environmental groups and labor unions whose members are at work on Sunrise. Earlier this month, Gov. Kathy Hochul attended a rally at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 25 in Hauppauge to call for an end to the wind-farm attacks. 

“The Trump administration tried to shut down this fully permitted project under a bogus claim of national security," Hochul said in a statement Monday. She called Lamberth's ruling "a big win for New York workers, families, and our future." 

While its power will chiefly benefit the Long Island grid, promising to power upwards of half LIPA's base of 1.2 million customers, Sunrise Wind's contract is with New York State, and ratepayers from Montauk to Buffalo will pay for its $7 billion construction cost, Newsday has reported. The figure does not include company profits from selling the power over its 25-year contract. The state has said both Empire and Sunrise will cost average customers just over $2.09 more a month on their energy bills when they are in service.

In its court filings, Sunrise said the stop-work order had been costing it more than $1 million a day, and would cost it more than $8 billion in "breakaway" costs if the project were canceled. 

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.