The Trump administration was ordered by a federal judge on Monday to cancel a stop-work order against Revolution Wind, Connecticut’s nearly completed wind farm off the state pier in New London.
The ruling came nearly one month after the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management suddenly halted all offshore work on the project, which was already 80% completed, in a letter citing unspecified national security concerns.
The project’s developers, which include the Danish energy company Ørsted, sued to overturn the order in federal court in Washington, D.C.
During a hearing in that case on Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said the government had provided no new information that could justify its stop-work order, which he called “the height of arbitrary and capacious action.”
In addition, Lamberth cited testimony from Ørsted officials who said the company was losing over $2 million each day the project was halted, and that critical deadlines were nearing to resume work in order to begin supplying electricity by the end of 2026.
“If Revolution Wind cannot meet its deadlines, the entire enterprise could collapse,” Lamberth, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, said. “There is no question in my mind of irreparable harm,” he added.
Officials at BOEM and the Department of the Interior did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the judge’s decision Monday.
In a statement Monday, Revolution Wind spokeswoman Meaghan Wims said that work on the project will resume “as soon as possible.”
“Revolution Wind will continue to seek to work collaboratively with the US Administration and other stakeholders toward a prompt resolution,” of the underlying lawsuit, she said.
Lamberth said his order would allow work to resume at Revolution Wind while the federal government conducts any additional reviews necessary to back up their claims of national security concerns.
