‘Targeted Attack’ | US DOI Plans to Revoke More Permits; White House Seeking to Engage Health and Human Services Department?

In a matter of months, the US offshore wind industry went from a growing investor and employer to an industry that is now undergoing what Oceantic Network called a “targeted attack” after reports emerged that the US Department of the Interior (DOI) plans to revoke federal permits for two more projects. The Trump administration has reportedly also asked multiple agencies, some of which are typically not involved in offshore energy permitting, to get involved in reviewing the impacts of offshore wind.

In this article:

• DOI Plans to Revoke Permits for Avangrid’s and Ocean Winds’ Projects
• So Much in Such a Short Time
• More May Be Coming
• Oceantic Network Says Trump Administration Undertaking ‘Targeted Attack’

Reuters reports that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicated in recent, separate court filings that it would move to remand federal permits for Avangrid’s New England Wind and Ocean Winds’ SouthCoast Wind offshore wind projects, both approved to be built in the federal waters off Massachusetts.

The DOJ, acting on behalf of the Department of the Interior, disclosed in a filing submitted to the US District Court for the District of Columbia that it intended to seek a court order to vacate BOEM’s approval of the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for Avangrid’s New England Wind project off Massachusetts. The filing states DOJ will make that move by 10 October, reversing the 2024 approval granted under the previous administration.

In a separate legal document submitted in the same court, the Justice Department said the Interior intends to move for a voluntary remand of SouthCoast Wind’s approval by 18 September, and asked the court to stay litigation brought by the town of Nantucket while that review proceeds.

SouthCoast Wind, owned and developed by Ocean Winds, has opposed the move in filings with the same court, saying the delay and the forthcoming request for remand were “simply pretexts for the unabashed desire of the President to eliminate all offshore wind projects from existence regardless of their impacts”, Reuters reports.

The news comes shortly after the DOI revealed an upcoming motion to vacate a federal permit for a 2 GW offshore wind project off Maryland.

In a court filing on 22 August as part of a lawsuit in Delaware, where a homeowner initiated legal action against the DOI’s decision to approve the COP for US Wind’ Maryland Offshore Wind Project, the DOI requested that the district court stay the case, as it was now looking to vacate the decision in a separate, but related, case in Maryland, where the DOI is also a defendant.

The motion for a remand of BOEM’s approval of the COP for the Maryland Offshore Wind Project is expected to be filed by 12 September.

The three pending motions to remand federal approvals are not the only actions the US federal government is taking to halt, hinder, or completely stop offshore wind projects in the domestic market.

After halting the offshore construction on Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 project in April, the DOI recently also issued a stop-work order for Revolution Wind, owned and developed by a 50/50 joint venture between Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables.

While Empire Wind 1, whose order was lifted after around a month following negotiations between the US federal government and New York Governor, was readying to start major offshore construction work, Revolution Wind is a nearly completed offshore wind farm, with the offshore substation and 20 more turbines, of the total 65, left to be installed.

The timing of the construction halt in relation to the project progress left the industry, as well as the two states Revolution Wind will provide electricity to, baffled.

Around the same time, the US federal government withdrew or terminated funding for twelve port upgrade projects, which were meant to support the deployment of US offshore wind farms and build the domestic supply chain.

FURTHER READING

• Trump Administration Stops Construction on 80-Pct-Complete Offshore Wind Farm
• Equinor Resumes Empire Wind 1 Construction as US Gov’t Lifts Stop-Work Order
• US Transportation Dept Cancels Funding for 12 Offshore Wind Port Projects to ‘Invest in Real Infrastructure’

While the avalanche now descending on the US offshore wind market started with the presidential memorandum on 20 January, it gained momentum with an order from the Interior Secretary on 29 July, which seeks to “end preferential treatment” of offshore renewable energy and, among other things, asks for revisions of permitting under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA).

The presidential memorandum from January “only” suspended new leasing and approving or renewing permits until a comprehensive review of the permitting process was done. At that time, fully permitted and, more importantly, projects in construction or nearing that stage were not thought of as being at (a significant) risk.

Shortly after the July order, on 30 July, the DOI and BOEM withdrew all Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) on the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and on 4 August, BOEM rescinded a section of its regulations that outlined the renewable energy lease sale schedule.

In addition to the actions taken and planned to be taken on specific projects over the last several months, the Trump administration is now also allegedly looking to engage other agencies, not usually involved or at least not extensively, in a quest to prove a negative impact of offshore wind infrastructure on life and activities around it.

The New York Times writes that the White House has instructed several federal agencies, including Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense (DOD), to draft new impact-review strategies for wind projects. The Department of Health and Human Services is reportedly being tapped to study potential electromagnetic field risks, and the DOD is to examine possible national security threats.

According to the NYT, the Trump administration has asked “a half-dozen agencies to draft plans to thwart the country’s offshore wind industry”, with the effort led by the White House chief of staff and a senior White House adviser.

Looking at the recent actions and all the moves from the US federal government since January 2025, for that matter, it is difficult not to conclude that this indicates a politically driven expansion of federal scrutiny well beyond customary regulatory channels.

This comes to further light when knowing that the DOD’s participation in offshore wind permitting is not new and that the collaboration between BOEM and DOD was even strengthened through an agreement last year.

This focus on broadening and deepening the reviews for offshore wind stands in juxtaposition to the efforts related to the other main offshore energy resource in the US: oil & gas, for which the US federal government has moved to cut the permitting time. Although offshore wind has advanced beyond how it looked at first, back in the 1990s, the industry still rests on many of the designs, methodologies, vessels and infrastructure used by oil & gas.

https://www.offshore-energy.biz/us-wards-off-gulf-of-americas-oil-gas-shutdown-while-new-bill-awaits-senates-endorsement

Given the apparent stance of the Trump administration on offshore wind, the industry, as well as some states, have voiced their concern and disapproval of how the US federal government is treating the domestic energy and industrial sector.

Following reports that the DOI was looking to revoke federal permits to multiple offshore wind projects, the US offshore renewable energy organisation, Oceantic Network, said this was a “targeted attack” on the industry and US workers.

“The unlawful and escalating actions by the Trump administration against fully permitted offshore wind projects up and down the East Coast represent one of the largest, economically devastating assaults on U.S. workers, businesses, and energy in generations”, said Sam Salustro, SVP Policy & Market Strategy at Oceantic Network.

Salustro added that halting construction and revoking permits would raise electricity prices for millions in the US and jeopardise billions of US dollars in private investment, as well as threaten the country’s shipbuilding, steel, and manufacturing supply chains.

“The Trump administration is singling out an American energy industry, undermining a 40-state, $25 billion domestic supply chain while holding American business investments hostage. This is from a political playbook that should make every industry worry whether they will be targeted by this administration or the next”, said Sam Salustro.

“We call on federal leaders to halt this targeted attack and restore certainty and predictability to our energy industry and the thousands ready to get back to work.” 

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