A federal judge ruled Monday that work on Revolution Wind, a major offshore wind farm project off the coast of Rhode Island, can resume after issuing a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration's halt. Senior Judge Royce Lamberth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia determined that the developers had demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims and would likely suffer irreparable harm without an injunction.
The ruling represents a significant setback for President Trump's efforts to shut down offshore wind development in the United States. Revolution Wind is one of five under-construction wind projects off the Atlantic Coast that Trump administration officials halted last month, citing classified national security risks. The project, jointly owned by Danish energy company Ørsted and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners, was already 87 percent complete when work was stopped for the second time in late December.
Judge Lamberth stated that the government did not adequately explain why it could not take action short of a complete stop to construction while considering ways to mitigate its claimed national security concerns. The court found that the administration also failed to provide sufficient reasoning for its change in position after previously approving the project and allowing construction to proceed for years.
The nearly six billion dollar Revolution Wind project is designed to provide clean energy to Rhode Island and Connecticut and has received all necessary federal permits. Developers face a critical time crunch to complete the wind farm, as delays threaten to derail the carefully choreographed construction schedule that depends on specialized vessels with extremely limited availability in the offshore wind industry.
The White House responded to the ruling with sharp criticism of the offshore wind industry. Spokewoman Taylor Rogers stated that President Trump has been clear that wind energy is the scam of the century and that the administration paused construction of all large-scale offshore wind projects because its top priority is to put America First and protect the national security of the American people.
The ruling applies only to Revolution Wind and does not affect the four other offshore wind projects halted by the Trump administration's stop-work order, including Revolution Wind's sister project Sunrise Wind. Another project, Empire Wind owned by Norwegian company Equinor, faces likely termination if construction cannot resume by Friday because the order disrupts a tightly coordinated construction schedule dependent on vessels that have very limited availability.
Clean energy advocates and state officials in the Northeast celebrated the court decision as a victory for renewable energy development and climate action. Environmental groups argued that the Trump administration's attempts to block offshore wind projects threaten thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic investment while undermining efforts to combat climate change. Legal experts suggest the ruling may set an important precedent for other wind developers seeking to challenge the administration's sweeping stop-work orders in court.
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