Revolution Wind Receives Court Injunction Against Trump’s Stop-Work Order
The Revolution Wind offshore wind farm won a preliminary injunction against the Department of the Interior’s December stop-work order, which permits the company to resume offshore work while the case proceeds. The project being developed by Ørsted and a joint venture with a division of BlackRock is the first of the offshore wind projects to receive relief from the courts, while two other hearings are also set for later this week.
Judge Royce Lamberth signed two orders on Monday afternoon, January 12, after a hearing into the December order from the Trump which forced Revolution Wind, along with four other offshore projects, to suspend work on the grounds of new classified information related to national security. The government argued that the Department of Defense [War] had new information about radar interference from the wind turbine blades and towers.
After hearing the presentation and reviewing the submissions, Judge Lamberth, who has also been hearing the first case from last summer, trying to stop work on Revolution Wind, agreed with Ørsted that the company was entitled to a second stay and preliminary injunction. The order states that the company “demonstrated the likelihood of success on the merits of its underlying claims,” and that it was likely to “suffer irreparable harm,” from the stop-work order.
The company argued that the order had come at a critical time, as the offshore wind farm is nearly 90 percent complete and weeks away from sending its first power to the electrical grid. The company had announced the suit on January 1, reporting that all offshore foundations and 58 of 65 wind turbines were installed. In court, it argued that the order was costing it more than $1.4 million a day and that the installation vessels were only contracted till February and then had to depart for other projects.
The government repeated its assertions of “national security interests,” but according to the reports, it did not provide any additional specifics. The judge hearing a separate case brought by Dominion Energy has ordered the administration to give the court the details to support its assertions about radar clutter from the wind farms. The project developers each assert they have spent years in review and permitting and have worked with the government to mitigate any concerns. Each of the five projects received clearances from the Department of Defense during its permitting process.
Donald Trump, meeting with oil industry executives last week, called offshore wind energy “losers.” He said his administration would not be permitting “windmills” but admitted that they might be forced to do something because “some stupid person” in the Biden administration agreed to do something years ago.
It is unclear how today’s decision for Revolution Wind might impact the other pending cases that made similar assertions. Equinor is due to be in court on Wednesday for a hearing for its Empire Wind project. The company told the court that if it cannot immediately proceed, it might be forced to cancel the project due to timing. The topside for the project is arriving and needs to be mounted because the company says it would be difficult to store and place later. On Friday, New York State’s Attorney General, Letitia James, who has been battling with Trump, filed suit to support both Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind. Rhode Island and Connecticut have also filed suits to support Revolution Wind.
A judge denied the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project its emergency injunction and has set Friday for a hearing in the matter. Dominion Energy, like Revolution Wind, has asserted that its project is at a critical stage as it was also expected to begin generating power in a matter of weeks.
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Dominion Energy was the first to follow suit, and it has been followed by Ørsted for Revolution Wind and Equinor for Empire Wind. Ørsted said it would also file suit for its Sunrise Wind project. Avangrid has not made public statements for its Vineyard Wind 1, a project that is partially complete and already generating electricity.
The December order targeted the five permitted and under-construction offshore wind farms in the United States. Other orders and legal battles continue for the permitted projects that have yet to start construction.
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