New England States Sue Trump over Offshore Wind Halt

Rhode Island, Connecticut and an Orsted A/S-backed wind farm venture are suing the Trump administration in an effort to revive construction of an almost-finished offshore project meant to provide power to the two New England states.

Revolution Wind LLC, co-owned by Orsted and Global Infrastructure Partners, sued Thursday (4 Sep) morning in federal court in Washington, hours before the two New England states announced a lawsuit of their own. The cases kick off a major legal battle over a flurry of recent orders reflecting President Donald Trump’s longstanding antipathy to wind power. The orders threaten billions of dollars of investments, hundreds of jobs and new power supplies.

At a press conference announcing the states’ lawsuit, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong blasted what he described as Trump’s “all-out war” on wind power. “This is an utterly unlawful and baseless — and frankly senseless and stupid stop-work order,” said Tong, a Democrat.

Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement that wind farms were unfairly given preferential treatment by the Biden administration.   “President Trump’s day one executive order instructed agencies to review leases and permitting practices for wind projects with consideration for our country’s growing demands for reliable energy, effects on energy costs for American families, the importance of marine life and fishing industry, and the impacts on ocean currents and wind patterns,” Rogers said. 

Revolution Wind seeks an emergency ruling vacating the administration’s Aug. 22 stop work order and letting it finish the project off the coast of Rhode Island, which the company says is 80% complete. The sudden halt violates Revolution Wind’s constitutional due process rights, according to its suit.

The project, intended to provide energy for hundreds of thousands of homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut, was approved after an extensive environmental and national defense review that spanned multiple agencies and three presidential administrations, according to the suit. Revolution Wind said it has already spent or committed about $5 billion on the project and will lose more than $1 billion in breakaway costs if it’s cancelled...Trump signed an executive order in January pausing permitting for wind projects, which led to work being halted on a wind farm offshore of New York. The project was later resurrected following negotiations between Trump and New York Governor Kathy Hochul...Trump’s attacks on the wind industry include halting new leases and permits, withdrawing millions of acres of ocean for development, and rolling back tax credits. The US Commerce Department in August launched a probe into imported wind turbines and parts that could lead to more tariffs. 

The government’s decision to block the Revolution project off the coast of Rhode Island was delivered with an order on Aug. 22 that cited national security concerns. The decision was issued just hours after Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen signed a climate agreement with California Governor Gavin Newsom, prompting speculation in Denmark, where Orsted is based, that Trump made his move in retaliation...The Revolution Wind suit names Trump administration officials including Interior Secretary Douglas Burgum and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Acting Director Matthew Giacona.