May 9, 2024 — A federal judge will soon decide whether Dominion Energy obtained necessary federal approvals for its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, a 176-turbine wind farm environmental groups are backing as a critical source of renewable energy needed to combat climate change.
Judge Loren L. AliKhan is expected to make a decision on a request for a preliminary injunction as part of a lawsuit against Dominion and U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration officials, who are overseeing construction of the offshore wind project.
The $9.8 billion CVOW project is expected to be completed in 2026 with the ability to generate enough power for up to 660,000 homes.
In March, two conservative groups, The Heartland Institute and the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), and the fossil fuel-funded Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), filed the lawsuit alleging Dominion didn’t obtain, nor did the federal government issue, approvals for a biological opinion to address any impacts to the North Atlantic right whale, an endangered species. Several of the dead animals have washed up along the East Coast several times in recent years.
“Dominion Energy must be prevented from engaging in any offshore construction” until the National Marine Fisheries Service issues a “properly determined” biological opinion, said CFACT president Craig Rucker in a statement when the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit.