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Judge Hands Trump a Fifth Loss in His Effort to Halt Offshore Wind Projects

February 3, 2026 — A federal judge on Monday struck down the Interior Department’s order to halt work on a multibillion-dollar wind farm off the coast of New York State, the fifth time the courts have ruled against the Trump administration’s efforts to throttle the country’s offshore wind industry. The administration is now 0-5 in its effort to stop wind farms under construction along the East Coast.

Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction that would allow the developer of the New York project, known as Sunrise Wind, to restart construction while the broader legal battle unfolds.

In December, the Interior Department ordered all work to halt on Sunrise Wind and four other wind farms off the East Coast. To justify the sweeping move, officials cited a classified report by the Defense Department that they said found the projects to be a national security threat.

But Judge Lamberth, who was nominated to the bench by President Ronald Reagan, said he was unpersuaded by the government’s claims about national security after reviewing the classified report under seal. He said the actions of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had caused “irreparable harm” to the developer of Sunrise Wind.

Read the full article at The New York Times

Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind Receives Injunction Against Trump Administration

February 3, 2026 — A U.S. District Court Judge issued a preliminary injunction on Monday, February 2, for Sunrise Wind against the Trump administration’s December stop-work order. With today’s ruling, all five of the under-construction offshore wind farms have received permission to resume work despite the administration’s claims of new information about potential radar interference from the wind turbine blades and towers.

Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind had reported in early January that it would follow the lead of the other wind farms and also file seeking a court order. The company said that its project was 45 percent complete, with 44 of its 84 foundations installed as part of a total investment of $7 billion.

The New York Times reports that Judge Royce Lamberth said during a two-hour hearing today that he was unconvinced after reviewing under seal the classified report, which is the basis for the government’s claims about national security issues.

“Purportedly new classified information does not constitute a sufficient explanation,” the judge ruled, according to The New York Times. Lambert reportedly called the administration’s actions “likely arbitrary and capricious” and ruled the company would be irreparably harmed unless work resumed.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

 

 

Dominion Energy and Vineyard Wind Reach Milestones as Work Resumes

February 2, 2026 — Within days of resuming work at Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project and Avangrid’s Vineyard Wind 1, both projects have marked key milestones. The projects argued they were at critical stages of construction in court and received preliminary injunctions to prevent the Trump administration from enforcing a stop-work order.

Dominion Energy provided a detailed update on the status of its project, reporting it has reached 71 percent completion and, critically, the first wind turbine generation was installed in January. The company’s massive wind turbine installation vessel, Charybdis (the only U.S.-flagged WTIV vessel), also began loading in December after a lengthy commissioning process and is deployed for the installations.

The presentation outlines that the project remains on track to generate its first power this quarter. Although after the delays due to the stop-work order from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, they have rescheduled completion to early 2027.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Court says Vineyard Wind can resume ‘full activities’

January 29, 2026 — After two other projects secured relief in the courts, Vineyard Wind on Tuesday also won a decision allowing it to resume “full activities” at its offshore wind power project south of Nantucket.

U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts stayed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Dec. 22 project suspension order, which Vineyard Wind challenged on Jan. 15.

“As the legal process proceeds, Vineyard Wind will continue to work with the Administration to understand the matters raised in the Order,” Vineyard Wind said in a statement. “Vineyard Wind will focus on working in coordination with its contractors, the federal government, and other relevant stakeholders and authorities to safely restart activities, as it continues to deliver a critical source of new power to the New England region.”

Read the full article at the Boston Herald

MASSACHUSETTS: Vineyard Wind’s final turbine tower heads out of New Bedford port

January 29, 2026 — Less than 24 hours after Vineyard Wind secured a win in federal court that lifted the project suspension, it sailed its 62nd and final turbine tower out of the Port of New Bedford on a brutally cold Wednesday morning. The shipment comes more than two years after the first turbine went out, capping off a long installation process that hit several unexpected bumps and delays along the way.

All that remains now are 10 blade sets — or 30 blades — to install by the end of March, when the project will lose access to its specialized installation vessel.

Depending on the weather and sea conditions, a single blade can take a few hours to install. If the seas are too rough, work has to pause.

Chris Melendez, a millwright who started working at New Bedford’s Marine Commerce Terminal for Vineyard Wind in 2024, said workers are “excited that [it’s] finally leaving.”

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

Vineyard Wind 1 blows past federal stop-work order, project to resume

January 29, 2026 — Vineyard Wind 1 picked up a legal tailwind on Jan. 27 after a federal judge stayed a Trump administration stop-work order that halted the nearly finished project just more than a month ago.

Judge Brian E. Murphy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted the company a preliminary injunction, blocking a Dec. 22 suspension order the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued to five major East Coast offshore wind projects.

The ruling allows Vineyard Wind 1, a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, to restart full construction activities in its lease area south of Martha’s Vineyard and southwest of Nantucket while the broader legal challenge moves through the court system. The project brings power ashore at Covell Beach in Barnstable, connecting to the New England power grid by way of a substation in Hyannis.

Read the full article at Cape Cod Times

VIRGINIA: Kiggans, Wittman seek answers after federal pause of offshore wind projects

January 29, 2026 — Republican U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans of Virginia Beach and Rob Wittman of Westmoreland joined seven other members of Congress in pressing the administration of President Donald Trump for answers after a federal decision to pause offshore wind development, including Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project.

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the lawmakers called for greater transparency around the 90-day halt, which the Department of Interior said was prompted by national security concerns detailed in confidential reports.

“We respectfully request additional information on the analysis underlying the recent decision, including how radar interference, environmental tradeoffs, long-term subsidy exposure, workforce impacts, and broader national security considerations were assessed,” the letter read.

Read the full article at Virginia Mercury

Judge says construction on Vineyard Wind can resume

January 28, 2026 — A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that construction can resume on Vineyard Wind, a large and nearly complete offshore wind farm near Massachusetts. Work on the project was suspended in late December, when the Trump administration said it posed a national security risk. Four other wind projects were also halted at that time.

The order represents a temporary victory for Vineyard Wind, which argued that a further delay could put the entire project in financial jeopardy. It also marks the fourth time a federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration in suits challenging the December stop work order.

After hearing oral arguments, U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy said he was issuing a stay on the administration’s order because the government “failed to provide a reasonable explanation for why it had to stop construction,” meaning, he added, the action was “likely arbitrary and capricious.”

In explaining his decision, Murphy said the government’s concerns about national security related to the operation of Vineyard Wind, not the project’s construction. And yet, under the December stop-work order, Vineyard Wind was given permission to continue producing power from its 44 operational turbines.

“The government has made no attempt to explain this disconnect,” Murphy said. “ If the government’s concern is the operation of these facilities, allowing the ongoing operation of the 44 turbines while prohibiting the repair of the existing turbines and the completion of the 18 additional turbines is irrational.”

Read the full article at wbur

Judge rules Massachusetts offshore wind project halted by Trump administration can continue

January 28, 2026 — A federal judge said Tuesday that a nearly completed Massachusetts offshore wind project can continue, as the industry successfully challenges the Trump administration in court.

At U.S. District Court in Boston, Judge Brian Murphy halted the administration’s stop work order for Vineyard Wind, citing the potential economic losses from the delays and the developers’ likelihood of success on their claims. Vineyard Wind is one of five big offshore wind projects on the East Coast that the Trump administration froze days before Christmas, citing national security concerns — and the fourth that has since been allowed to go forward.

A spokesperson for the company, Craig Gilvarg, said in a statement that it would “work with the Administration to understand the matters raised in the Order.”

“Vineyard Wind will focus on working in coordination with its contractors, the federal government, and other relevant stakeholders and authorities to safely restart activities, as it continues to deliver a critical source of new power to the New England region,” Gilvarg added.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Vineyard Wind to argue in federal court for getting back to work ASAP

January 27, 2026 — The developer behind a large offshore wind farm near Massachusetts will try to convince a federal judge on Tuesday to allow construction on the project to resume.

Attorneys for the company, Vineyard Wind, will ask the judge to hit pause on a federal order that stopped work on the nearly complete project. The Trump administration suspended work on Vineyard Wind and four other offshore wind projects last month, citing unspecified national security concerns.

In a subsequent lawsuit, Vineyard Wind accused the government of acting unlawfully and of abusing its statutory power  — a move the company said is costing it $2 million for each day that construction is shut down.

Tuesday’s hearing in U.S. District Court in Boston comes amid mounting public outrage over the region’s high energy costs, and concerns about how New England will handle the projected growth in electricity demand over the next decade. The hearing also comes after judges allowed construction to resume — at least temporarily — on three other East Coast offshore wind projects that were similarly shut down by last month’s federal order.

Given the outcome of those cases, Timothy Fox, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, an independent research firm that tracks offshore wind projects, said Vineyard Wind stands a good shot at getting its temporary restraining order, too.

Read the full article at wbur