Not finished with its ramped-up vendetta against U.S. offshore wind energy projects, the Trump administration has added new targets in recent days—the SouthCoast Wind and New England Wind projects located about 25-30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts that were planned to produce an estimated 5 GW of power.
The U.S. Interior Dept. intends to “review” the project approvals issued at the end of the Biden administration, said the U.S. Justice Dept. in intervening in an existing Washington, D.C., federal district court case on Sept. 3 against the intended 2.6-GW New England Wind projects by a group claiming their harm to right whales, and on Aug. 29, as part of an existing lawsuit by Nantucket contending the 2.4-GW South Coast Wind project approval violated federal environmental laws.
The planned two-part New England Wind projects are being developed by Avangrid, while South Coast Wind developer is Ocean Winds North America LLC, a joint venture of EDP Renewables and Engie. Massachusetts had procured 791 MW from the New England Wind 1 project last September 2024, also procuring about more than 1 GW from SouthCoast Wind last year. Rhode Island also procured 200 MW.
Filing on behalf of the Interior Dept., DOJ seeks to pause the challenges to gain court approval for further project permit review that could include revoking them. “Continuing to litigate [cases] before any decision is made on the motion for remand and stay
would potentially waste considerable time and resources,” said DOJ, which wants South Coast Wind project action by Sept. 18 and for New England Wind projects by Oct. 10.
The latest administration actions against offshore wind follows an accelerating flurry of federal permit, funding, tax credit and other sector project restrictions, including loss of millions of dollars in funds set to boost port upgrade in Salem, Mass., to support the projects.
“Having already undergone years of expert review, these projects are primed to lower costs and improve reliability,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said in a Sept. 3 statement. “There is absolutely no need for the Trump administration to reopen permitting processes and deny jobs, investment and energy to the states.”
Construction had been expected to start next year on the SouthCoast project but power sales agreements with Massachusetts and Rhode Island have been delayed due to prior market conditions, including more federal constraints, state officials said.
“Nantucket supports renewable energy … but the permitting for SouthCoast Wind failed to account for the significant harm the project will cause Nantucket, a federally designated National Historic Landmark,” the city’s lawsuit clams.
Avangrid declined comment, as did SouthCoast Wind owner Ocean Winds, but in a Sept. 1 court case filing statement, the latter said “this delay and the forthcoming request for remand are simply pretext for the unabashed desire of the President to eliminate all offshore wind projects from existence regardless of their impacts.” The developer claimed to “have spent over seven years and more than $600 million” to develop the project and seek needed approvals.
“President Trump said he was a job creator – he has turned into the biggest job destroyer of any President this country has seen. It’s clear ‘Make America Great Again’ doesn’t include construction workers,” Rodrigo Badaro, president of the North Shore Building Trades Council, said in a statement.
