We’ve been following the push and pull between wind developers and the administration for the past several weeks. First, the administration moved through the Department of the Interior to suspend offshore wind leases, citing national security concerns. Last week, I wrote about Ørsted’s lawsuit challenging the suspension and seeking a preliminary injunction allowing development to continue. Now, the District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled on that injunction, finding in favor of Ørsted. Ørsted writes in a press release that:
“Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the preliminary injunction sought by Revolution Wind, LLC (‘Revolution Wind‘) regarding the December 22, 2025 suspension order issued by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The court’s action will allow the Revolution Wind Project (the ’Project‘) to restart impacted activities immediately while the underlying lawsuit challenging the August 22, 2025 and December 22, 2025 BOEM Director’s orders progresses. Revolution Wind will determine how best it may be possible to work with the US Administration to achieve an expeditious and durable resolution.”
While the preliminary injunction may be challenged, it does allow construction to continue for the time being. However, this isn’t the only news when it comes to wind leases. The New York Attorney General also announced that the state is lodging a legal challenge to the wind lease suspensions. The New York AG’s office states in its press release:
“Attorney General James argues that these orders are arbitrary and unwarranted, as both projects underwent years of extensive national security and safety reviews, and pausing these projects could threaten New York’s economy and energy grid. She is asking the court to intervene to block the administration’s stop-work orders.”
So now the pendulum appears to be swinging back in favor of wind developers. We’ll see how long that lasts before the administration makes its next move. Companies relying on these wind energy projects to meet renewables targets have cause for optimism, but should have a plan B in case development is delayed further.
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