US Offshore Wind Survives Its Biggest Political Test as All Five Stop-Work Orders Fall in Court
Federal judges have struck down all five Trump administration stop-work orders on Atlantic offshore wind projects, clearing the way for 7.5 GW of capacity to power 2.5 million homes.
Overview
The United States offshore wind industry has cleared its most serious political obstacle to date. Between mid-January and early February 2026, four different federal judges in separate jurisdictions struck down all five stop-work orders that the Trump administration had imposed on Atlantic Coast wind projects in December 2025. With construction now resumed on every affected site, the industry is racing to deliver approximately 7.5 gigawatts of capacity — enough to power roughly 2.5 million homes — while the legal and political battles continue on appeal.
What We Know
The Stop-Work Orders and Their Defeat
On December 22, 2025, the Department of the Interior issued suspension orders halting construction on five offshore wind projects spanning five states along the Atlantic seaboard, citing classified national security concerns related to radar interference. The affected projects — Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Empire Wind, Revolution Wind, Vineyard Wind, and Sunrise Wind — collectively represented the entirety of the US offshore wind sector under active construction.
The developers moved swiftly, filing for preliminary injunctions within days. By mid-January 2026, three federal judges had independently granted relief to Revolution Wind, Empire Wind, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind. Vineyard Wind followed shortly after, and the fifth and final ruling came on February 2, 2026, when a district court judge cleared Orsted’s Sunrise Wind project to resume work. In each case, judges reviewed classified materials presented by the government and found them insufficient to justify the disruption.
The consistency of the rulings across four different judges in different jurisdictions underscored the weakness of the administration’s legal position. The Trump administration has signaled it will appeal, but as of early March, no appellate court has stayed the lower court orders, and construction continues unimpeded.
The Flagship: Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind
The largest of the five projects, Dominion Energy’s 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW), is now more than 70 percent complete and poised to deliver first power to the grid by late March 2026. The project’s 176 monopile foundations have all been installed, along with three offshore substations, and turbine assembly is underway using the Charybdis, America’s first Jones Act-compliant wind turbine installation vessel.
The month-long federal pause cost Dominion approximately $228 million in equipment storage, contractual penalties, idle workforce expenses, and vessel delays. Combined with $137 million in tariff-related cost increases on steel and other materials, the project’s budget has risen from $9.8 billion to $11.5 billion. Dominion has said the majority of turbines will be in service by the end of 2026, with the remainder following in early 2027, powering an estimated 660,000 homes in Virginia.
The Rest of the Fleet
Each of the other four projects is at a different stage of construction but all are now advancing:
- Vineyard Wind (Massachusetts): At roughly 95 percent complete and already partially operational, this 800-megawatt project is the closest to full commissioning. Its operational turbines saved New England ratepayers an estimated $2 million per day during a December cold snap, providing a concrete demonstration of the technology’s grid value.
- Revolution Wind (Rhode Island/Connecticut): Approximately 80 percent complete, this project will serve over 350,000 homes.
- Empire Wind (New York): About 60 percent complete, the 810-megawatt project is expecting the arrival of a specialized Maersk installation vessel from Singapore in late March to begin turbine installation. The vessel features a 1,900-tonne crane capable of handling turbines rated above 15 megawatts.
- Sunrise Wind (New York): At 45 percent complete, this project will power approximately 600,000 homes when finished.
What We Don’t Know
Several critical uncertainties remain for the industry. The Trump administration’s appeals of all five injunctions are pending, and appellate courts could theoretically reverse the lower court rulings, though no stays have been granted thus far. The classified national security evidence that the government presented — and that all four judges found unpersuasive — has not been publicly described, leaving the precise nature of the radar interference claims opaque.
More consequentially for the industry’s long-term trajectory, no new offshore wind projects beyond these five are expected to receive federal permits during the current administration. The new permitting freeze imposed in December 2025 remains in place, meaning the pipeline of future projects — including several gigawatts of planned capacity off the coasts of New Jersey, Maryland, and the Carolinas — is effectively stalled. Industry analysts suggest no additional projects are likely to advance for at least three years.
Analysis
The court victories represent a watershed moment for US offshore wind, but the celebration comes with caveats. The five projects now under construction were all permitted before the current administration took office, and their legal survival rests on the strength of property rights and contractual obligations that predated the political shift. The courts found that the government could not unilaterally revoke existing permits without meeting a high evidentiary bar — a principle that protects these particular investments but offers no guarantee for future ones.
The financial toll of even a brief political disruption has been substantial. CVOW alone absorbed nearly $230 million in pause-related costs, and tariffs have added further pressure across all projects. These costs will ultimately flow to ratepayers, potentially complicating the political case for offshore wind in states where electricity prices are already a contentious issue.
Yet the technology itself is proving its value. Vineyard Wind’s performance during New England’s December cold snap — saving ratepayers $2 million daily while gas-fired plants struggled with fuel supply constraints — provided the kind of real-world evidence that is difficult to argue against. As CVOW prepares to deliver its first electrons this month, the US offshore wind industry is demonstrating that it can survive political headwinds, even if the cost of doing so is measured in the billions.