On January 16, 2026, a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted a preliminary injunction to allow the US’s largest offshore wind project to resume construction. The 176-turbine, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project had been halted since December 22, 2025, when the Trump administration issued a 90-day stop-work order.
News of the forward movement on the Virginia wind farm came just days after another U.S. District Court judge made a similar ruling; Revolution Wind, a Rhode Island-based offshore wind project, received a preliminary injunction to “resume construction immediately” on January 12, 2026. The ruling came after the company filed legal challenges to the stop-work orders issued by the DOI and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
While many of the offshore wind projects that had been halted by the DOI and BOEM have resumed construction, at least one still has their hands tied. Sunrise Wind, located off Long Island, also filed a legal challenge to get back to work, but they’re awaiting a court hearing that’s scheduled for early February.
Each day construction of the wind farms sits unmoving, millions of dollars are lost; during the three weeks the December stop-work order halted the five East Coast offshore wind projects, the combined losses amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars.
These companies have been candid and swift in their response to the delays, and they aren’t backing down. Numerous lawsuits have been filed against the federal government by offshore wind developers for what they allege to be unlawful interference.
A Year of Delays and Losses for Offshore and Onshore Wind Projects
The administration claims offshore wind poses a national security threat, which is the reason for the stop-work order. However, the President has long been vocal about his dislike of wind farms, and the December suspension was not the first time they interfered with upcoming and ongoing projects.
An Executive Order signed on day 1 of his presidency froze pending offshore and onshore wind permits. Then, in August 2025, federal funding cuts stopped 12 offshore wind and related infrastructure projects from proceeding. That same month, BOEM issued a 90-day suspension order that temporarily stopped construction on Revolution Wind – when it was already 80% completed.
These are just some examples of the federal government’s actions to stop or hinder wind farm projects.
Wind Farm Developers Sue the U.S. Government Over Stop-Work Orders
The reasoning for the stop-work orders from DOI and BOEM that halted construction on five offshore wind farms has not held up so far in legal challenges by developers. With four projects that received preliminary injunctions so they could resume work as legal battles continue, the reasoning given by the government does not appear to be upholding in court.
The Trump administration claims offshore wind poses a national security threat. However, they’ve not yet provided how, exactly, they create such risks. Project developers have not been given details, but the DOI claims the stop-work orders were based on classified reports from the Defense Department. Radar interference has previously been identified, but developers claim they’ve worked with the appropriate federal agencies to address these concerns.
Now, further legal action has been added to the mix in response to the stop-work orders. Ørsted, Equinor, and Dominion Energy have all filed civil lawsuits. And in December 2025, a coalition of 18 18 attorneys general won their lawsuit against the Trump administration for its order to freeze the development of wind energy projects.
Representatives of several offshore wind companies are frustrated. They’ve reinforced they followed the proper process to get these projects approved – that they obtained the necessary permits, worked with the required regulatory bodies, and construction proceeded within the mandatory regulations. They’ve also said their efforts to try to address concerns and work with the government to find suitable solutions have been one-sided.
The importance of energy projects in the US continues to increase amidst the rapid expansion of AI and the unprecedented amount of resources they require; researchers have predicted that, each year, data centers in the U.S. could use as much water as 10 million Americans, with carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to as much as 10 million cars. These factors, combined with the effects of climate change that are being felt around the world, point to a growing need for clean energy sources.
Then there’s jobs to consider. According to the Department of Energy, wind farms have created roughly 150,000 jobs in construction, manufacturing, and project development. Other areas of the country are also experiencing and expecting new job opportunities, like in the Gulf of Mexico, which opened to wind lease sales in 2025. While offshore worker injuries can be more serious than many other industries, the benefits, including economic growth and long-term, clean energy sources, have a positive impact across the country.
Unfortunately, this past year has shown there’s likely to be more attempts by the current administration to block both onshore and offshore wind farm developments. So far, developers and states have prevailed over these roadblocks, as seen by the recent preliminary injunctions that allow most of the affected East Coast offshore wind projects to resume construction. The outcomes of remaining legal challenges and lawsuits will show the industry what type of interference by the federal government is considered lawful.
