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Trump’s offshore wind project freeze draws lawsuits from states and developers

January 8, 2026 — Offshore wind developers affected by the Trump administration’s freeze of five big projects on the East Coast are fighting back in court, with one developer saying its project will likely be terminated if they can’t resume by the end of next week.

Norwegian company Equinor and the Danish energy company Orsted are the latest to sue, with the limited liability companies for their projects filing civil suits late Tuesday. Connecticut and Rhode Island filed their own request on Monday seeking a preliminary injunction for a third project.

The administration announced Dec. 22 it was suspending leases for at least 90 days on the five offshore wind projects because of national security concerns. Its announcement did not reveal specifics about those concerns.

President Donald Trump has been hostile to renewable energy technologies that produce electricity cleanly, particularly offshore wind, and has instead prioritized oil, coal and natural gas that emit carbon pollution when burned.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Offshore Wind Projects Challenge Trump Administration’s Order to Stop Work

January 5, 2026 — Developers of five offshore wind farms that were ordered last week by the Trump administration to halt construction are suing to restart work on at least three of the projects.

The Interior Department on Dec. 22 ordered companies to halt work on five wind farms in various stages of construction along the East Coast. They were: Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind, both off the coast of New York; Revolution Wind off Rhode Island and Connecticut; Vineyard Wind 1 off the coast of Massachusetts; and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind off Virginia.

The administration cited unspecified national security concerns about the projects.

On Thursday, Orsted, the Danish energy giant that is building Revolution Wind, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. On Friday Equinor, the developer of Empire Wind, did the same.

Both companies said they are seeking preliminary injunctions that would allow construction to continue as the litigation proceeds. Orsted is also building Sunrise Wind and said it was considering a similar legal challenge to restart work on that project, too.

Read the full article at The New York Times

 

Orsted files legal challenge over Trump’s halt to $5 billion offshore wind project

January 3, 2025 — Danish renewables giant Orsted, the world’s largest developer of offshore wind farms, said on Friday that it had launched legal action against the Trump administration over the suspension of its $5 billion Revolution Wind project.

Shares of the Copenhagen-listed company rose more than 4% on the news, putting the stock among the top performers of the pan-European Stoxx 600 index.

Orsted said in a statement that it would seek a court injunction against the U.S. government’s decision to halt its Revolution Wind project, located about 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast.

Read the full article at CNBC

Long Island Wind Farms Respond to Federal Suspension

December 23, 2025 — Two of the five offshore wind farms whose leases were paused by the Trump administration on Monday are designed to power Long Island’s electric grid, and wind farm companies here have begun to respond to the news.

The U.S. Department of the Interior said Monday it was “pausing” the leases for 90 days due to what it described as “national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports.”

“Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our East Coast population centers,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in a statement Monday. “The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people.”

On Long Island, the Danish wind farm giant Ørsted is in the middle of construction for Sunrise Wind, a 924 megawatt, 84-turbine offshore wind farm about 30 miles off the coast of Montauk. Its transmission cable is slated to come ashore at Smith Point County Park, where it is being installed down William Floyd Parkway and a series of other roads to a substation in Holbrook.

Read the full article at the East End Beacon

 

Troubled Wind Developer Orsted to Cut 25% of Staff

October 9, 2025 — Orsted, the Danish renewable energy developer, said on Thursday that it would cut about 2,000 jobs, or around 25 percent of its work force, over the next two years.

The move was the latest sign of the diminished prospects for offshore wind, a low-emissions technology that Orsted helped pioneer.

“We’ll be saying goodbye to many skilled and valued colleagues,” Rasmus Errboe, Orsted’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Not long ago, Orsted looked on its way to becoming a global giant in the renewable energy industry, with a portfolio that includes high-profile projects in the United States. Now, the company suggested that it would dial back those aspirations and hunker down in its home base of Europe.

Read the full article on The New York Times

Federal judge lifts Trump administration’s halt of nearly complete offshore wind farm in New England

September 23, 2025 — A federal judge ruled Monday that a nearly complete offshore wind project halted by the administration can resume, dealing President Donald Trump a setback in his ongoing effort to restrict the fledgling industry.

Work on the nearly completed Revolution Wind project for Rhode Island and Connecticut has been paused since Aug. 22 when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a stop-work order for what it said were national security concerns. The Interior Department agency did not specify those concerns at the time. Both the developer and the two states sued in federal courts.

Danish energy company Orsted and its joint venture partner Skyborn Renewables sought a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court that would allow them to move forward with the project.

At a hearing Monday, Judge Royce Lamberth said he considered how Revolution Wind has relied on its federal approval, the delays are costing $2.3 million a day and if the project can’t meet deadlines, the entire enterprise could collapse. After December, the specialized ship needed to complete the project won’t be available until at least 2028, he said. More than 1,000 people have been working on the wind farm, which is 80% complete.

Read the full article at The Associated Press

US district judge lifts stop-work order on Ørsted offshore wind project

Sptember 23, 2025 — A U.S. judge has lifted a stop-work order on Ørsted’s Revolution Wind project, a large offshore wind installation off the nation’s East Coast.

The Revolution Wind project, which is being built off the coast of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, was halted in August after the Bureau of Energy Ocean Management (BOEM) issued a stop-work order, just weeks after it also canceled all offshore Wind Energy Area designations. BOEM issued a director’s order to halt “all ongoing activities” related to the project, which Ørsted said was 80 percent to completion.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Judge rules against Trump administration, allows Revolution Wind to resume

September 23, 2025 — A federal judge on Monday ordered that Orsted’s Revolution Wind may resume construction, affirming the company’s arguments that the Trump administration’s halting of the project is unlawful.

The ruling is a major win for the offshore wind industry, which to date has not seen much relief from the courts in addressing the obstacles that the Trump administration has put in place through executive and secretarial orders.

The preliminary injunction, as the name suggests, is a preliminary decision that halts the stop-work order while the case plays out. Still, such an injunction must meet four conditions, including that the plaintiff (Orsted) is likely to succeed on the merits of their argument and suffer irreparable harm without relief, and that an injunction would be in the public interest.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

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

How many lawsuits does it take to restart Revolution Wind? More than one.

September 8, 2025 — Hours before a federal judge in Boston was set to hear arguments on the Trump administration’s executive order stopping offshore wind reviews, two separate lawsuits seeking to reverse the recent stop work order on nearly completed Revolution Wind project were announced Thursday.

Revolution Wind, a joint venture between Ørsted and a consortium led by Skyborn Renewables, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. challenging the stop work order issued Aug. 22 by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The multibillion dollar project was 80% complete and scheduled to begin delivering 704 megawatts of power to 350,000 homes across Rhode Island and Connecticut starting in mid-2026.

Meaghan Wims, an Ørsted spokeswoman, said the company will continue to seek to work collaboratively with the Trump administration and other stakeholders but believed the federal government lacked legal authority for the stop work order. All required federal and state permits for the 65-turbine wind farm in Rhode Island Sound were secured in 2023 after a review process that lasted seven years.

“The project is facing substantial harm from continuation of the stop-work order, and as a result, litigation is a necessary step,” Wims said.

Soon after Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables filed their lawsuit, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha informed reporters of his intention to file a lawsuit with his Connecticut counterpart seeking to reverse the Trump administration’s decision. The lawsuit was filed Thursday afternoon in the U.S. District of Rhode Island in Providence.

“We have begun and built an industry here in Rhode Island that can continue to grow and provide jobs to Rhode Islanders and build our economy,” Attorney General Peter Neronha told reporters at a morning press conference in his Providence office. “We’re on the cusp of building that economy, and the president stopped it unlawfully.”

Read the full article at Rhode Island Current