Backers of two offshore wind projects ask court to negate Trump administration's stop-work order
A turbine blade is lifted onto a rack at the Revolution Wind project assembly site in New London, Conn. Credit: Bloomberg
The developers of two offshore wind energy projects under construction in the Atlantic Ocean, Empire Wind and Revolution Wind, separately filed actions in U.S. District Court Friday seeking to overturn the Trump administration’s latest stop-work order for the projects.
Empire Wind, already under construction off the coast of Jones Beach, said Friday it had filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior seeking to overturn the order. As part of that suit, Empire will seek a preliminary injunction allowing construction to continue while the litigation proceeds, the company said in a release.
Energy from Empire Wind is scheduled to be delivered to the New York City grid in 2027. Its developer Equinor said that while it "continues to work closely" with federal agencies, it believes the stop-work order is "unlawful and threatens the progress of ongoing work with significant implications for the project."
Empire Wind is more than 60% complete, and Equinor has already invested more than $4 billion in the project, the company said in a statement Friday.
At the same time, Revolution, a joint venture of Denmark-based Orsted and a division of U.S.-based Global Infrastructure Partners, asked a federal judge for permission to supplement a prior, successful complaint against the government to include the most recent stop-work order, issued Dec. 22. Revolution charges that the order by President Donald Trump’s Department of the Interior was issued with no notice despite prior federal approvals of the project and violates the Constitution, the Administrative Procedures Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
Revolution in September successfully argued for reversal of an initial stop-work order, which a judge in federal court for the District of Columbia called "the height of arbitrary and capricious action." The more recent stop-work order cited national security concerns in calling for a 90-day pause for five offshore wind farms under construction on the outer continental shelf. The pause can be extended.
Others projects impacted by the stop-work order include Sunrise Wind, with its power scheduled to feed the Long Island grid; Vineyard Wind, off the New England coast; and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.
All previously received all federal approvals to start construction after years of review by multiple federal and state agencies.
"The second stop-work order, like the first stop-work order, was issued without notice or a hearing, and is based on a general conclusory statement of impacts to national security from offshore wind projects," according to a Jan. 1 filing by Revolution Wind. "And the second stop-work order — like the first order — is patently unlawful and violates the APA, OCSLA, and the U.S. Constitution."
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers, in an emailed statement, said 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." Trump in a recent Truth Social post showed a photo of gulls flying around a wind turbine with the comment, "Killing birds by the millions."
Revolution's latest court filings make no mention of Sunrise Wind, an adjacent project being developed by Orsted. Sunrise earlier this month had begun work off the coast of Smith Point, where its 106-mile cable makes landfall on its way to a receiver station in Holbrook. Sunrise Wind has been projected to bring 924 megawatts of power to the Long Island grid when it’s completed. Pausing the projects, Orsted has said, has resulted in the loss of tens of millions of dollars each day.
Meaghan Wims, a spokeswoman for Orsted, said in an email, "Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind are complying with the respective orders and have taken appropriate steps to suspend related activities in a manner that prevents impacts on health, safety, and the environment."
The stop-work order is the latest in a series of attacks by the Trump administration on green energy initiatives, among them the shutdown in April of the Empire Wind project off Jones Beach and the elimination through Congress of generous subsidies for solar, wind, electric vehicle and heat pump tax credits. Trump has labeled green energy a "scam," but proponents and scientists say the initiatives present clear benefits for the environment and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
"President Trump has been clear: wind energy is the scam of the century," Rogers said Friday. "For years, Americans have been forced to pay billions more for the least reliable source of energy."
Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.
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