New York Leads Legal Challenge to Trump Offshore Wind Energy Halt

New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a coalition of 18 states in legal action against the Trump administration’s sweeping halt on wind energy development. The lawsuit, filed in response to President Trump’s January 20, 2025, directive suspending all federal approvals for wind energy projects, aims to protect billions in maritime investments and thousands of jobs across the United States.

The impact of this policy has since been felt in the maritime sector with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) ordering Equinor’s Empire Wind, one of the country’s largest offshore wind projects, to cease all construction activities on April 16, 2025. The project, located off New York’s coast, represents a $5 billion investment and was designed to power 500,000 New York homes by 2027. Construction began in 2024, and the project had already secured over $3 billion in project financing last December. The project also includes a potential second phase with a collective generating capacity of approximately 2.1 gigawatts.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the suspension by citing concerns about the previous administration’s approval process, stating the halt would continue “until further review of information that suggests the Biden administration rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.”

Empire Wind is among several projects under various phases of development in the U.S., with total investments valued at over $28 billion per BloombergNEF analysis.

New York State has set an ambitious target to develop 9,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind energy by 2035

Attorney General James asserts that the administration’s indefinite blockade on the nascent offshore wind sector could leave billions of dollars in states’ clean energy investments stranded or underutilized and significantly harm economic development.

“This administration is devastating one of our nation’s fastest-growing sources of clean, reliable, and affordable energy,” stated Attorney General James. “This arbitrary and unnecessary directive threatens the loss of thousands of good-paying jobs and billions in investments.”

The attorneys general argue that President Trump is acting outside his legal authority and lacks statutory right to unilaterally shut down the permitting process.

The coalition of states, which includes California, Massachusetts, and Washington among others, is seeking a preliminary injunction to immediately stop the administration from enforcing the freeze while litigation proceeds. The outcome of this legal battle could determine the future of America’s offshore wind industry and its associated maritime infrastructure investments.

This development represents a dramatic shift from the Biden administration’s offshore wind initiatives, which had targeted 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

“President Trump’s presidential order halting the development of wind energy threatens thousands of good-paying jobs and jeopardizes our ability to build a reliable, affordable and clean energy grid for the benefit of all New Yorkers,” said **New York Governor Kathy Hochul. “**Like virtually all the executive orders issued by the President thus far, it sows chaos and upsets the critical regulatory clarity needed for businesses to effectively operate in New York and around the country.”

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