A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that construction can resume on Vineyard Wind, a large and nearly complete offshore wind farm near Massachusetts. Work on the project was suspended in late December, when the Trump administration said it posed a national security risk. Four other wind projects were also halted at that time.
The order represents a temporary victory for Vineyard Wind, which argued that a further delay could put the entire project in financial jeopardy. It also marks the fourth time a federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration in suits challenging the December stop work order.
After hearing oral arguments, U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy said he was issuing a stay on the administration’s order because the government “failed to provide a reasonable explanation for why it had to stop construction,” meaning, he added, the action was “likely arbitrary and capricious.”
In explaining his decision, Murphy said the government’s concerns about national security related to the operation of Vineyard Wind, not the project’s construction. And yet, under the December stop-work order, Vineyard Wind was given permission to continue producing power from its 44 operational turbines.
“The government has made no attempt to explain this disconnect,” Murphy said. “ If the government’s concern is the operation of these facilities, allowing the ongoing operation of the 44 turbines while prohibiting the repair of the existing turbines and the completion of the 18 additional turbines is irrational.”
The $4.5 billion Vineyard Wind project is 95% done. Once fully operational, it’s 62 turbines will be able to generate up to 800 megawatts of renewable electricity — enough to power about 400,000 homes in the region.
In court documents and in Tuesday’s hearing, Vineyard Wind said that, while it was just weeks away from finishing construction, it was critical that it be allowed to resume work immediately. At issue is the company’s access to a specialized boat required to built turbines in the ocean.
There are only a handful of wind installation vessels in the world, and Vineyard Wind’s contract with one of them is up at the end of March. The company said it would be unlikely to get access to another anytime soon, meaning any work left undone when the boat departs for its next project would remain undone for the foreseeable future.
This is a problem, the company’s lawyer said, because Vineyard Wind’s financing arrangements depend on it finishing the project by March 31. The company also has signed power contracts with Massachusetts utilities that specify it be fully operational by then too.
Judge Murphy said he was persuaded that the project would suffer irreparable harm if he didn’t issue a stay.
“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 press release following the decision. “Vineyard Wind will focus on working in coordination with its contractors, the federal government, and other relevant stakeholders and authorities to safely restart activities, as it continues to deliver a critical source of new power to the New England region.”
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which issued the pause, could challenge the decision. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wind turbines can interfere with military and civilian radar, but there are technological ways to mitigate the issue. This is why the Defense Department plays a big role in the federal permitting process for offshore wind projects — to date, no offshore wind project has ever been given the green light to start construction without a sign-off from the Department of Defense.
“Vineyard Wind underwent a multi-year, multi-agency review,” Murphy said. And the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management “has failed to explain how the purportedly new classified information undermines BOEM’s prior conclusions or renders to the existing mitigation measures inadequate.”
Murphy — who was allowed to view the classified information from the Defense Department — said he wasn’t persuaded that Vineyard Wind posed an immediate risk to national security because of the timing of the order. He noted that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management got the new information from the Defense Department in November, but didn’t issue a stop-work order until late December, “undermining any claim that this new assessment presented an emergency in need of immediate addressing.”
News of the stay quickly drew praise from environmentalists in the region.
“Finishing construction of the nearly completed Vineyard Wind Project will benefit consumers and let workers return to their jobs,” said Francis Pullaro, President of RENEW Northeast, a nonprofit that advocates for renewable energy. “As this week’s cold spell shows, with real-time energy prices going through the roof, New England by adding offshore wind gains more reliable power to meet growing demand and keep energy costs affordable.”
Gov. Maura Healey also celebrated news of the decision, saying in a statement that it was an important development for the state and its residents.
“Vineyard Wind is already providing power and has created thousands of jobs. We need this project to continue to increase energy supply, improve reliability and lower costs,” she said. “President Trump never should have tried to take it off the table.
Vineyard Wind’s preliminary success in court comes on the heels of similar decisions by other federal judges. So far, judges have allowed Revolution Wind near Rhode Island, Empire Wind near New York and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project to get back to work. Sunrise Wind, the fifth project affected by the December stop-work order, will argue for a preliminary injunction in court on Feb. 2.
Unlike some of the other judges in these cases, though, Murphy said he did not consider the many comments from high-ranking officials in the Trump administration slamming offshore wind when making his decision. Vineyard Wind argued in court documents that the December stop work order was merely pretext, and an excuse for an administration that doesn’t like offshore wind to stop projects.
Since taking office a little over a year ago, the Trump administration has frequently targeted the offshore wind industry with executive actions, stop-work orders and a blanket permitting pause that has effectively frozen progress on all but these five projects under construction.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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