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US asks federal court to cancel permit for Maryland offshore wind farm

September 15, 2025 —  The Trump administration asked a federal judge to cancel the 2024 approval of a wind farm off the coast of Maryland, saying former U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration had underestimated threats it would cause to search and rescue operations and commercial fisheries, according to court documents filed on Friday.

If approved by the court, the motion would invalidate a years-long federal process that permitted US Wind’s Maryland Offshore Wind Project. The facility was expected to generate enough electricity to power 718,000 homes at a time of soaring U.S. demand.

Read the full article at Reuters

Feds cast cloud over SouthCoast Wind project

September 12, 2025 — The future is uncertain for SouthCoast Wind, a planned wind farm south of the islands that would serve Rhode Island and Massachusetts via power cables routed under the Sakonnet River to Brayton Point in Fall River.

Earlier this month, officials from the United States Department of the Interior issued a filing in a Washington, DC court noting that agency officials intend “to reconsider” approval of the project. The news comes just weeks after the Trump Administration ordered work halted on Revolution Wind, another farm off the coast of Rhode Island that was 80 percent built out when work was ordered to stop.

The Sept. 2 filing was associated with a civil suit brought by Nantucket against Southcoast Wind, the federal Department of the Interior and the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Filings also note that Interior officials seek a “voluntary remand” of previous federal approvals by this coming Thursday, Sept. 18.

Southcoast Wind, a 2.4-gigawatt farm that company officials said would power more than 800,000 homes in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, is currently under review by the BOEM following the Biden administration’s approval late last year of 127,000-acre ocean lease area about 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 23 miles south of Nantucket.

The plan has always been to connect electric cables from the site through federal and state waters, including the Sakonnet River, and eventually to an electrical substation at Brayton Point in Somerset, where it would link to the regional electric grid.

Read the full article at East Bay RI

Orsted Sues Over Stop-Work Order

September 12, 2025 — Revolution Wind, a wind farm under construction in federal waters on the outer continental shelf, has sued the Trump administration following the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s August issuance of a stop-work order, with the 65-turbine installation already 80-percent complete.

The stop-work order was one of multiple actions apparently aimed at killing a nascent domestic offshore wind industry. In July, the federal Interior Department announced the end of what it called “preferential treatment for unreliable, subsidy-dependent wind and solar energy,” and in August launched investigations into bird deaths caused by wind farms. BOEM rescinded regulations outlining renewable energy lease sales early last month.

Read the full article at The East Hampton Star

Could Revolution Wind get back to work? Burgum comments suggest anything is possible.

September 11, 2025 — A week after Gov. Dan McKee asked to meet with President Donald Trump over the administration’s halt to the Revolution Wind project, he’s still waiting for an answer.

But U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is suggesting the paused project might not be dead in the water after all. In an interview on CNBC Wednesday, Burgum, whose office oversees federal permits for offshore wind projects, indicated the administration was open to letting work resume on the 65-turbine project.

Read the full article at Yahoo News!

VIRGINIA: The Lone G.O.P. Governor Opposing Trump’s War on Offshore Wind

September 10, 2025 — President Trump has sought to halt the construction of five giant wind farms off the coasts of Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island — all states run by Democrats.

But there is one East Coast wind farm that has so far escaped the administration’s ire: a $10.8 billion project under construction off the shores of Virginia, where Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, has been its champion.

Mr. Youngkin has quietly pushed back against Mr. Trump’s war on wind energy. A supporter of the president, the governor has privately urged the Trump administration not to target the project known as Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, according to four people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

Mr. Youngkin called Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, last month to voice support for the project, according to two of the people briefed on the matter. His office also called the White House in January to express concern about Mr. Trump’s executive order that paused permits for new wind farms on federal lands and waters, two of the individuals said.

Read the full article at The New York Times

How New England is handling Trump’s offshore wind assault

September 10, 2025 — President Donald Trump’s war on offshore wind power is clobbering New England, and officials there are warning of future grid reliability problems. In this new energy reality, though, many states in the region say they will try their best to muddle through.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has stunned states and industry alike with a whirlwind of actions, highlighted by halting a nearly complete project off Rhode Island’s coast — Revolution Wind — and seeking to revoke a permit for a Massachusetts project. Other crucial projects in the region have been caught up in a temporary pause on leases.

In a recent Cabinet meeting, Trump reiterated his hatred of wind. “We’re not allowing any windmills to go up,” he said. “They’re ruining our country.”

Read the full article at E&E News

Ørsted and Iberdrola Are Trying to Save U.S. Offshore Wind Investments

September 9, 2025 — Two major offshore wind developers,  Ørsted and Iberdrola, have efforts underway to save their offshore wind projects in the United States. The companies are reportedly trying to win over the Trump administration, which opposes offshore wind energy, by emphasizing the larger investments in the United States.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Bloomberg reports, confirmed that the administration is “actively engaged in discussions” with Ørsted over the future of the Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut. According to the reports, Wright, during a presentation at the Council of Foreign Relations, confirmed that there is “a very active dialogue,” saying the issues of the wind farm were being “worked and discussed.”

Last month, the Trump administration issued a stop work order for the project, which Ørsted said is 80 percent installed. The company highlighted its large investment, saying that all of the foundations for the 704 MW wind farm are installed and that 45 out of the 65 wind turbines have also been installed. The export cabling and the onshore power substation are nearly complete.

Ørsted filed a lawsuit challenging the legal authority to suspend the project, calling it a necessary step. The company, however, also said it was continuing to seek a resolution with the administration.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

US Wind: Trump has plans to ‘kill outright offshore wind projects’

September 9, 2025 — US Wind, the Baltimore-based company behind plans to build a wind farm off the Delmarva coast, claims that a federal government plan to rescind permits for its project is a result of “political pressure” from President Donald Trump.

In a counterclaim filed Wednesday in response to a federal lawsuit originally brought by Ocean City, Md., attorneys for US Wind said the Trump administration’s efforts to rescind its permits “are inextricably tied to a wider plan to hinder or kill outright offshore wind projects.”

In the original lawsuit, Ocean City and a coalition of local groups challenged federal permits for offshore construction granted under the Biden administration. They claimed the approvals were part of a “coordinated effort” to bypass transparency and proper public notices to approve major offshore projects “as fast as possible.”

 In all, the competing claims are part of a volley of lawsuits that have plagued the ambitious energy project for more than a year.

Read the full article at Spotlight Delaware

Nantucket wind lawsuit on hold as feds take 2nd look at SouthCoast permit

September 8, 2025 — In a move that could reshape the future of SouthCoast Wind — and signal deeper uncertainty for offshore wind — the U.S. Department of the Interior is reviewing its approval of the planned offshore wind farm off Nantucket. At the same time, federal attorneys want to pause the town of Nantucket’s related lawsuit while regulators revisit the permit — a shift Nantucket supports.

On Aug. 29, the U.S. Department of Justice asked the U.S. District Court for a temporary hold on Nantucket’s appeal filed over the permit. In a Sept. 2 statement, town leaders said they hope the pause leads to broader changes in how offshore wind projects are approved.

Read the full article at Cape Cod Times