Offshore wind developers and the attorneys general of Rhode Island and Connecticut are suing the federal government in an effort to reverse a stop-work order on a nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island.
It’s the latest development in a rapidly escalating battle between President Donald Trump’s administration and the offshore wind industry over several ongoing and planned wind energy projects off the East Coast. Trump has continued to target wind power in his second term, releasing a series of executive orders and statements to undermine the industry.
Danish company Ørsted and its joint venture partner Skyborn Renewables filed the lawsuit Thursday in DC District court to try to finish its Revolution Wind project, which was 80% complete when the stop-work order was issued last month. The states also announced their intent to sue Thursday.
Thousands of jobs hang in the balance while the project is in limbo; Revolution Wind supports over 2,500 US jobs across construction, operations, shipbuilding and manufacturing, an Ørsted spokesperson recently told CNN.
The project would provide enough energy to power upwards of 350,000 homes across Rhode Island and Connecticut, according to Ørsted. Reviews for the venture started over nine years ago and it received all required federal and state permits in 2023 under the Biden administration. The project was scheduled to be finished next year.
“Revolution Wind is projected to save Connecticut and Rhode Island ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars over 20 years,” a joint news release from the states’ attorneys general said. Their complaint says “Rhode Island and Connecticut ‘seek to restore the rule of law, protect their energy and economic interests, and ensure that the federal government honors its commitments,’” according to the release.
The developers are still trying to work “collaboratively” with the Trump administration to resolve the stop-work order but believe the federal government “lacked legal authority for the stop-work order and that the stop-work order’s stated basis violated applicable law,” they said in a news release.
Trump Interior Department spokesperson Elizabeth Peace declined to comment on the litigation.
Revolution Wind is one of a series of projects targeted by the federal government under Trump. In a Wednesday court filing for a separate case, the Trump administration said it also planned to revoke approvals of the Avangrid-owned New England Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts, which was set to start construction this year.
In April, a similar stop-work order was issued for another offshore wind project in waters surrounding New York. That order was eventually lifted in May after discussions between the administration, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the developer ultimately allowed construction to continue — but at a cost of $955 million to the company behind the project.
Trump has long been an opponent of wind energy, criticizing offshore wind for being too expensive and saying it has detrimental impacts to wildlife around it. Trump’s cabinet secretaries have repeated some of those claims, and although the Interior Department has the biggest federal jurisdiction over offshore wind farm approvals, several other agencies have also gotten involved in an effort to stymie the projects.
During a recent White House cabinet meeting, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mentioned an “interdepartmental coalition” of agencies including his, the Defense Department, Commerce Department, Energy Department and Environmental Protection Agency who “are all working on this issue” and “meeting together.”
“The economic outlook for offshore wind in the United States is not promising,” US Energy Sec. Chris Wright told Bloomberg in a Wednesday interview. “Offshore wind has been entirely a government-mandated, government-funded business.”