The Trump administration is asking a federal court to let it rescind the 2023 approval for Revolution Wind, a $6.2 billion offshore project that has been sending power to the New England grid since March and expects to be fully operational by year end. The motion, filed in a suit originally brought by the anti-wind group Green Oceans, argues the Interior Department needs to re-evaluate compliance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. If the court agrees, the developer Ørsted could lose the federal authorization underpinning a 704-megawatt farm slated to serve roughly 350,000 homes and businesses.
The project is already built
Revolution Wind sits off the Rhode Island coast and is Connecticut’s first offshore wind farm. Turbines are spinning, electrons are flowing, and the commercial operation date is weeks away. The Interior Department’s own Bureau of Ocean Energy Management signed off on the construction and operations plan three years ago after an extensive review that included defense agencies. The administration now says that record of decision failed to adequately explain how the project’s impacts fit with other ocean uses such as fishing and recreation, and it has previously cited interference with military radar, a claim a judge already found insufficient to halt a project this far advanced.
The legal back-and-forth
In January, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled the government’s radar evidence did not justify stopping work on a project that had already cleared multiple federal reviews. The new filing does not introduce fresh technical findings; it asks for a remand so the agency can reconsider its earlier analysis. Interior insists the move is procedural compliance with a briefing schedule, not a policy shift, though the administration has spent the past year pressuring leaseholders to surrender acreage for oil and gas development and has paused new permitting across the sector.
Industry warns of chilling effect
Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, said predictable regulatory processes are essential for offshore energy of all kinds and urged an efficient resolution while Revolution Wind moves toward full operations. He tied the uncertainty to the need for congressional permitting reform, specifically the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act. Critics argue that reopening final approvals after billions have been spent and hardware installed undermines the licensing framework for wind and potentially for other energy infrastructure that relies on settled federal authorizations.