Trump administration pauses 5 offshore wind projects on the East Coast, including Vineyard Wind

The Trump administration on Monday suspended leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast due to what it said were national security risks identified by the Pentagon.

The suspension, effective immediately, is the latest step the administration has taken to hobble offshore wind in its push against renewable energy sources. It comes two weeks after a federal judge struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking wind energy projects, calling it unlawful.

The administration said the pause will give the Interior Department, which oversees offshore wind, time to work with the Defense Department and other agencies to assess the possible ways to mitigate any security risks posed by the projects. The statement did not detail the national security risks. It called the move a pause, but did not specify an end date.

“The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. “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.”

Wind proponents slammed the move, saying it was another blow in an ongoing attack by the administration against clean energy. The administration’s decision to cite potential national security risks could complicate legal challenges to the move, although wind supporters say those arguments are overstated.

The administration said leases are paused for the Vineyard Wind project under construction in Massachusetts, Revolution Wind in Rhode Island and Connecticut, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, and two projects in New York: Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind.

The Interior Department said unclassified reports from the U.S. government have long found that the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers create radar interference called “clutter.” The clutter caused by offshore wind projects obscures legitimate moving targets and generates false targets in the vicinity of wind projects, the Interior Department said.

National security expert and former Commander of the USS Cole Kirk Lippold disputed the administration’s national security argument. The offshore projects were awarded permits “following years of review by state and federal agencies,” including the Coast Guard, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, the Air Force and more, he said.

“The record of decisions all show that the Department of Defense was consulted at every stage of the permitting process,” Lippold said, arguing that the projects would benefit national security because they would diversify the country's energy supply.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I, said Revolution Wind was thoroughly vetted and fully permitted by the federal government, “and that review included any potential national security questions.” Burgum's action "looks more like the kind of vindictive harassment we have come to expect from the Trump administration than anything legitimate,'' he said.

The administration's action comes two weeks after a federal judge struck down Trump’s executive order blocking wind energy projects, saying the effort to halt virtually all leasing of wind farms on federal lands and waters was “arbitrary and capricious” and violates U.S. law.

Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order blocking wind energy projects and declared it unlawful.

Saris ruled in favor of a coalition of state attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, that challenged Trump’s Day One order that paused leasing and permitting for wind energy projects.

Trump has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind, and prioritizes fossil fuels to produce electricity.

Wind supporters called the administration's actions illegal and said offshore wind provides some of the most affordable, reliable electric power to the grid.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey rebuked the administration's order in a statement Monday afternoon, calling it "unlawful." She wrote that in over the year it's produced power, Vineyard Wind has lowered costs for residents and businesses. She also bemoaned the job losses a pause would create for Massachusetts workers.

"Energy costs are already too high. It makes absolutely no sense for the Trump Administration to halt construction on a project that is bringing more affordable energy to our region. This puts people out of work during the holidays," the governor said, vowing the state will work alongside the others impacted by stop work order, as well as offshore wind developers, to "ensure the projects are completed."

Ted Kelly, of the Environmental Defense Fund, said that the "the Trump administration has recklessly obstructed the build-out of clean, affordable power for millions of Americans" this year, at the same time the country’s need for electricity is increasing.

“Now the administration is again illegally blocking clean, affordable energy," Kelly said. “We should not be kneecapping America’s largest source of renewable power, especially when we need more cheap, homegrown electricity.''

The administration's actions are especially egregious because, at the same time, it is propping up aging, expensive coal plants "that barely work and pollute our air,” Kelly said.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called the lease suspension a “lawless and erratic stop-work order” that revives an earlier failed attempt to halt construction of Revolution Wind.

The wind project has been vetted and approved through every layer of federal and state regulatory process, including a careful review of security issues raised in the latest announcement, he said.

“Every day this project is stalled is another day of lost work, another day of unaffordable energy costs, and other day burning fossil fuels when American-made clean energy is within reach," Tong said. “We are evaluating all legal options, and this will be stopped just like last time.”

A New Jersey group that opposes offshore wind hailed the administration's actions.

“Today, the president and his administration put America first,'' said Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast New Jersey, a nonprofit advocacy group.

“Placing largely foreign-owned wind turbines along our coastlines was never acceptable," he said, arguing that the projects posed serious national security risks.

Offshore wind projects also pose a threat to commercial and recreational fishing industries, Shaffer and other critics say.

Developers of U.S. offshore projects include Denmark-based Orsted, Norway-based Equinor and a subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola. Orsted, which owns two of the projects affected, saw stock prices decline by more than 11% Monday.

Richmond-based Dominion Energy, which is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, said its project is essential for national security and meeting Virginia’s dramatically growing energy needs, driven by dozens of new data centers.

“Stopping CVOW for any length of time will threaten grid reliability ... lead to energy inflation and threaten thousands of jobs,” the company said in a statement.

Pausing the Virginia project, which is nearly 70% complete, creates a “perfect storm” to harm customer affordability and grid reliability, said David Shepheard, an energy expert at Baringa, a global consulting firm.

East Coast residents are familiar with winter storms that can devastate local economies, Shepheard said, adding: “This is a new one for the area: a Washington-borne nor'easter where the political winds are going to stop the blades from spinning."

Associated Press writer Jennifer McDermott in Providence, R.I., contributed to this report. WBUR's newsroom also contributed to this story.