The Trump administration said on Monday that it is suspending leases for five offshore U.S. wind farms because of national security risks identified by the Department of Defense in classified reports.
The Department of the Interior “is PAUSING leases for 5 expensive, unreliable, heavily subsidized offshore wind farms! ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote in a social media post.
In a statement emailed to CBS News, the administration said it is pausing the following wind farm leases:
- Vineyard Wind 1
- Revolution Wind
- CVOW – Commercial
- Sunrise Wind
- Empire Wind 1
The Interior Department didn’t disclose the specific security issues raised by the Defense Department, instead pointing to unclassified federal reports that have found wind projects can create risks because the movement of turbine blades, combined with their reflective towers, can create radar interference.
Called “clutter,” this radar interference can make it difficult to identify legitimate moving targets, Interior noted.
The action comes two weeks after a federal judge struck down President Trump’s executive order blocking wind energy projects, saying the effort to halt virtually all leasing of wind farms on federal lands and waters was “arbitrary and capricious” and violates U.S. law.
Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order blocking wind energy projects and declared it unlawful.
Saris ruled in favor of a coalition of state attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, that challenged Trump’s Day One order that paused leasing and permitting for wind energy projects.
Halted projects
Vineyard Wind 1, located about 15 miles south of the Massachusetts islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, is slated to include 62 wind turbines, each spaced by one nautical mile apart, according to the project’s website. About half of those turbines were operational in October, the Vineyard Times reported that month.
Once fully developed, the project is projected to generate renewable energy for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Revolution Wind, a project located off the coast of Rhode Island, is 80% completed, according to its website. It’s operated by renewable energy company Orsted, which didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Dominion Energy’s CVOW, which stands for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, is the largest offshore wind project in the U.S., with 176 turbines. The project was projected to be up and running by the end of 2026, according to its website. Dominion didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Orsted’s Sunrise Wind, located about 30 miles from the coast of New York’s Long Island, was expected to be operating in 2027, according to its website.
Lastly, Empire Wind, also located off Long Island, is under construction. The company constructing Empire Wind, Equinor, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.