Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind Files Lawsuit Over Trump Suspension, Citing Billions at Risk

Sunrise Wind LLC has filed a complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., challenging the Trump administration’s December 22 order that suspended construction on the nearly half-completed offshore wind project.

The Ørsted-owned subsidiary’s move escalates a growing confrontation between offshore wind developers and federal authorities, coming after Revolution Wind LLC launched similar legal action on January 1. Both projects were among five major East Coast developments ordered to halt work immediately, with the administration citing classified national security concerns.

Another project developer, Empire Offshore Wind LLC has also filed a civil suit in D.C. challenging the order and seeking a preliminary injunction that would allow construction to continue while litigation proceeds. Equinor—the Norwegian energy giant behind Empire Wind—has called the suspension order “unlawful” and warning it “threatens the progress of ongoing work with significant implications for the project.”

The legal action marks the latest flashpoint in an escalating battle between renewable energy developers and the Trump administration over offshore wind development along the East Coast.

When the suspension was issued, Sunrise Wind was 45% complete, with 44 of its 84 monopile foundations installed and the offshore converter station in place. Onshore electrical infrastructure is largely finished, and near-shore export cables have already been laid. The project had been on track to begin producing power as early as October 2026, with full operations slated for 2027 under a 25-year contract with New York State.

In its filing, Sunrise Wind says the lease suspension order “violates applicable law” and is causing “substantial harm” to the project. The company notes that it secured all required local, state, and federal permits after years of environmental and technical review, including extensive coordination with the U.S. Department of Defense Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Siting Clearinghouse to address potential national security issues.

Those consultations led to a formal agreement between the Department of War, the Department of the Air Force, and Sunrise Wind that spelled out specific mitigation measures. Additional approvals were granted by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and other federal agencies.

“Sunrise Wind has spent and committed billions of dollars in reliance upon, and has met the requests of, a thorough review process,” the company said.

The suspension now threatens delivery of what industry analysts describe as critical grid infrastructure at a time of rising electricity demand. Once complete, the project is expected to provide affordable, stable-priced power to nearly 600,000 homes, and experts warn that further delays could raise reliability risks for ratepayers.

According to Ørsted, the Sunrise Wind project has already generated thousands of American jobs across construction, operations, shipbuilding, and manufacturing, including more than 1,000 union workers who together have logged over one million union labor hours. Sunrise Wind is part of Ørsted’s wider investment push into U.S. energy generation, grid upgrades, and port infrastructure, with a supply chain touching more than 40 states.

The Trump administration has justified the suspension by pointing to concerns that large offshore wind turbines could interfere with radar systems. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the pause was necessary to address “emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers.”

The move has drawn strong backlash from developers, labor unions, and industry groups, who stress that the halted projects all passed national security and defense reviews under both the first Trump administration and the Biden administration. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler called the action “irresponsible policy that threatens to take America backward.”

As the case proceeds, Sunrise Wind says it is still seeking “constructive” engagement with the administration and other stakeholders to resolve the dispute. The company describes the lawsuit as a necessary step to protect a project that followed every regulatory requirement and invested billions of dollars into U.S. jobs and infrastructure.

The ruling could shape the future of offshore wind in the United States, where the development pipeline has already shrunk by more than half over the past year, according to industry reports.

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