Trump administration to reconsider SouthCoast Wind permit

The Trump administration may pull the plug on the permit for SouthCoast Wind, a planned 141-turbine offshore wind farm 20 nautical miles south of Nantucket.

In a federal court filing Friday, the Department of Justice disclosed that the Department of the Interior plans to reconsider the project's permit, which was approved on the last business day of the Biden administration.

The town of Nantucket filed an appeal in federal court in March, arguing the project was improperly permitted and would impact the town's "heritage tourism economy." The Justice Department wants to hit pause on that challenge and tackle the overarching permit review first.

"A further deferral of Federal Defendants' responsive pleading deadline in this case is needed because Interior intends to reconsider its COP approval and will therefore be moving for a voluntary remand of that agency action by September 18, 2025," the motion states, referring to SouthCoast Wind's construction and operations plan. "The outcome of Interior's reconsideration has the potential to affect the Plaintiff's claims in this case."

The DOJ wrote that "litigating the propriety of the current final agency action in the interim makes little sense" and that pausing those proceedings would "conserve judicial resources."

SouthCoast Wind and its attorneys, in a response filed Monday, said the department's motion should be denied, writing that "Federal Defendants have failed to meet their burden to establish 'good cause' justifying their request for a second extension to file a responsive pleading."

"Federal Defendants' failure to show good cause is further exemplified by their lack of diligence in moving this litigation forward, which is indicative of a pattern of unreasonable delays designed to further the political agenda of the current Administration," the response states. "This delay and the forthcoming request for remand are simply pretext for the unabashed desire of the President to eliminate all offshore wind projects from existence regardless of their impacts."

The Trump administration on Friday terminated or withdrew $679 million for 12 "doomed" offshore wind projects, including nearly $34 million for the Salem wind port project. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called offshore wind projects "wasteful," saying they are "using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America's maritime industry."

Gov. Maura Healey said SouthCoast Wind's project could power over 600,000 homes and businesses.

"This project has been thoroughly vetted and has already undergone years of expert review," Healey said in a statement to the News Service Wednesday. "There is absolutely no need for the Trump Administration to reopen permitting processes and deny jobs, investment and energy power to the states."

The Trump administration last month halted the Revolution Wind offshore project that Connecticut and Rhode Island are counting on. Asked if federal officials planned to intervene in the under-construction Vineyard Wind 1 project off Massachusetts, an Interior Department official said last week, "Every project is reviewed on a case-by-case basis."

The Vineyard Wind and SouthCoast Wind projects are cornerstones of the offshore wind push in Massachusetts, although a SouthCoast wind contract has been delayed.

Last month, Healey proposed legislation to delay the state's deadline to contract 5,600 megawatts of offshore wind power from 2027 to 2029, citing "uncertainty surrounding federal permitting and tax credits" and changing market conditions.