US Offshore Wind Developer Sues Gov’t Over Stop-Work Order

Dominion Energy has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s stop-work order issued on 22 December that directed all major US offshore wind projects under construction to pause while federal agencies review alleged national security risks, AP and US media report.

In its complaint filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on 23 December, Dominion argues the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) order is “arbitrary and capricious” and violates constitutional and statutory limits on executive action.

“BOEM’s order sets forth no rational basis, cannot be reconciled with BOEM’s own regulations and prior issued lease terms and approvals, is arbitrary and capricious, is procedurally deficient, violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”), and infringes upon constitutional principles that limit actions by the Executive Branch”, the company states in the filing shared by the US media.

Dominion is seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction to block enforcement of the pause, saying its large-scale, 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, which is well under construction, has incurred millions of US dollars in costs and could face broader reliability impacts if halted.

A hearing on Dominion’s request for a temporary restraining order is scheduled for today (29 December) before US District Judge Jamar Walker, AP reported on 26 December.

The stop-work order from the Department of the Interior (DOI), which cited “national security risks” identified in classified Pentagon reports, has paused leases and suspended construction activities at all large-scale offshore wind projects currently underway in the US, including Dominion’s CVOW, Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind.  

The five projects, all under construction, have a combined capacity of 5.8 GW.

In a statement released right after the US government issued the stop-work order, Dominion Energy said: “Stopping CVOW for any length of time will threaten grid reliability for some of the nation’s most important war fighting, AI, and civilian assets. It will also lead to energy inflation and threaten thousands of jobs.”

The halt on offshore wind construction came shortly after a federal judge overturned the US President Donald Trump’s indefinite halt of all federal approvals and permitting for new wind energy projects.

In its third-quarter results published in November, Dominion said the 2.6 GW offshore wind farm was at 66 per cent of completion and remained on track to achieve first power production in the first quarter of next year and full commissioning by the end of 2026.

CVOW will feature 176 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW wind turbines. Once in operation, it will become the biggest US offshore wind farm and, with an installed capacity of 2.6 GW, one of the biggest in the world today.

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