A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has allowed a massive offshore wind farm off the coast of New York to continue construction, after being blocked by the Trump administration for weeks.
The ruling marks the fifth court win the offshore wind industry has seen over President Donald Trump and his effort to suppress development of the renewable energy alternative.
Judge Royce C. Lamberth on Monday granted Danish wind developer Ørsted an injunction against the enforcement of a sweeping stop-work order issued by the Interior Department in December, which paused the leases of five offshore wind projects under construction in the Atlantic.
The order, which cited national security concerns, affected Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial, Sunrise Wind, and Empire Wind 1.
Sunrise Wind was roughly 45% complete at the time Interior issued its pause. Ørsted told the court that the construction pause was costing the project $2.5 million a day.
Once completed, the New York wind farm is expected to pump more than 900 megawatts of energy into the local grid, enough power for roughly 600,000 homes and businesses.
With Lamberth’s ruling, all five projects have now been allowed to resume construction, a major blow to Trump, who has repeatedly vowed to prevent any new wind turbines from being built under his administration.
This is the second favorable ruling Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, has given the offshore wind industry.
In early January, the District Court judge allowed Revolution Wind — off the coast of Rhode Island — to continue construction, saying it would be “irreparably harmed” if it did not restart.
His ruling was quickly followed by court wins for Empire Wind and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
Most recently, a federal judge allowed the Vineyard Wind 1 project in Massachusetts to resume construction. This wind farm is roughly 95% complete.
Monday’s ruling was swiftly celebrated by clean energy advocates, with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Ted Kelly saying, “Offshore wind delivers immense value during electricity crunches in the winter because ocean winds are often at their strongest. The already-built portion of Vineyard Wind saved New Englanders $2 million per day in energy costs during a December cold snap.”
“That’s why it makes no sense for this administration to keep kneecapping America’s largest source of renewable power,” Kelly, the director and lead counsel for U.S. clean energy at EDF, said. “We need more cheap, homegrown power on the grid — not less.”
JUDGE ORDERS RESTART OF VINEYARD WIND PROJECT IN FOURTH BLOW TO TRUMP EFFORT
Over the last year, the Trump administration has launched a government-wide policy assault on new and existing developments of offshore wind.
This has included increased regulatory hurdles for new projects, canceled more than $679 million in funding for offshore wind-related projects, and attempted to strip permits for under-construction wind farms — including Empire Wind and Revolution Wind.
In January, Trump reiterated that his goal is to prevent any windmill from being built. Although he did admit that the administration may be forced to “do something” by the courts due to agreements made under former President Joe Biden.
