A federal judge has ruled that construction on the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts may resume, dealing another setback to the Trump administration’s attempt to halt offshore wind development through a sweeping stop-work order issued late last year.
The decision makes Vineyard Wind the fourth offshore wind project to receive judicial relief from the Dec. 22 construction freeze, which cited classified national security concerns as the basis for suspending work. A fifth offshore wind project remains under review in federal court.
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Following the issuance of the stop-work order, Vineyard Wind said it sought to engage with federal agencies to resolve the issue without litigation. According to the developer, those efforts were unsuccessful.
Vineyard Wind said after the order was issued, it “repeatedly” reached out to confer with the relevant government agencies “to forge a path forward without litigation,” but that those agencies “refused to discuss the supposedly new information about national security impacts or what Vineyard Wind might do to mitigate them.”
In granting the preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy of the District of Massachusetts temporarily blocked enforcement of the stop-work order during a Tuesday hearing. The ruling follows similar outcomes in cases involving Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Revolution Wind and Empire Wind, while Sunrise Wind continues to await a court decision.
Vineyard Wind’s developer has argued that the project is 95% complete and partially operational, already delivering electricity to the grid. Although the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management allowed limited activity necessary for power generation to continue, the stop-work order barred additional construction work, threatening the project’s completion timeline.
The Department of the Interior, which oversees BOEM, previously said the pause was triggered by “national security risks” identified in “recently completed classified reports.” Interior officials said the delay would provide time for the agency, along with the Department of Defense and other partners, “to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects.”
Other developers have raised similar concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding the government’s claims. Dominion Energy, which is building the 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, also accused federal officials of refusing to disclose the nature of the alleged national security threats.
In court filings, Vineyard Wind said the stop-work order was costing the project $2 million per day in direct and indirect expenses and put the project at risk of missing a critical construction window.
“The remaining construction requires a specialized vessel that is available only until March 31, 2026,” Vineyard Wind said, adding that if relief had not been granted by Jan. 30, there would not have been “sufficient time to complete the Project before the vessel departs.”
“The inability to timely complete construction of the Project in turn jeopardizes the revenues and financing necessary for the Project to remain viable, with resulting financial consequences from which Vineyard Wind likely could not recover,” the developer said.
Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and has been delivering power to Massachusetts for nearly a year. At the time of the stop-work order, the project was capable of producing 572 megawatts, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said in a Dec. 22 statement.
The project has also been at the center of prior controversy. Vineyard Wind objected to the administration’s refusal to allow replacement blades to be installed on 10 already constructed towers, which the developer said posed safety risks, including lightning exposure. The project drew scrutiny in July 2024 after a blade failure scattered fiberglass debris that later washed ashore on Nantucket beaches.
Following Judge Murphy’s ruling, Vineyard Wind signaled it would continue engaging with federal officials.
“As the legal process proceeds, Vineyard Wind will continue to work with the Administration to understand the matters raised in the Order,” the company said in a Jan. 27 release.
Originally reported by Diana Digangi, Reporter in Construction Dive.
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