Rhode Island, Connecticut and wind farm developer Orsted A/S are suing the Trump administration in an e
ffort to revive construction of an almost-finished offshore project meant to provide power to the two New England states.
The developer sued Thursday in federal court in Washington, hours before the two New England states announced a la
wsuit of their own. The cases kick off a major legal battle over a flurry of recent orders reflecting President Donald Trump
’s longstanding antipathy to wind power. The orders threaten billions of dollars of investments, hundreds of jobs and new power supplies.
At a press conference announcing the lawsuit, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong blasted what he described as Trump’s “all-out war” on wind power.
“This is an utterly unfair and baseless — and frankly senseless and stupid stop-work order,” Tong said.
Revolution Wind LLC, co-owned by Orsted and Global Infrastructure Partners, filed suit Thursday morning in federal
court in Washington, with Connecticut and Rhode Island following hours later. Orsted seeks an emergency order forcing
the Trump administration to let it finish a project off the coast of Rhode Island that's already 80% complete.
Read More: How Trump’s War on Renewables Is Upending Wind, Solar: QuickTake
The project, intended to provide energy for hundreds of thou
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sands of homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut, was approved after an extensive environmental and national defense review that spanned multiple agencies and
three presidential administrations, according to the suit. Revolution Wind said it has already spent or committed about $5 bill
ion on the project and will lose more than $1 billion in breakaway costs if it's canceled.
“Revolution Wind spent these sums and incurred these financial obligations in reasonable reliance on restraining’ ap
proval and authorization of the project and with the expectation of due process under the law,” according to the suit.
Since taking office in January, Trump has issued a flurry of orders designed to stymie the fledgling US offshore wind business. The president has long despised the indu
stry, claiming that massive wind turbines kill birds, cause cancer and drive whales “crazy.”
Trump signed an executive order in January pausing permission for wind projects, which led to work being halted on a wind farm offshore of New York. The project was later revived following negotiations between Trump and New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
Orsted seeks an emergency ruling vacating the administration’s Aug. 22 stop work order on the project, arguing the cancellation violates constitutional due process rights. “The project has spent billions of dollars in reliance on these valid approvals,” the company said in the complaint.
The suit also addressed concerns about whales, among other things, saying “the overwhelming scientific consensus is that offshore wind activity is not a cause of marine mammal mortalities” and that such deaths “are mainly caused by vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglements.”