Wind Project Can Resume Construction
By Hank Russell
A District Court judge granted a preliminary injunction to a wind energy company, allowing it to resume construction of a project off the Long Island coast, handing a defeat to the Trump administration.
Empre Wind had been in battle with the Trump administration the past few months. As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, the Interior Department announced last month that it has placed a pause on leases for five wind farm projects, one of which was Empire Wind. The agency cited “national security concerns” as a reason for this decision.
LILP also reported that the Empire Wind project was ordered to shut down under Trump’s orders back in April, but, a month later, rescinded the stop work order. That same month, Attorney General Letitia James sued the Trump administration over his January 20 executive order to have the federal government halt all approvals on wind energy projects. James called the freeze on these projects arbitrary and unlawful. Because of the executive order, Equinor stopped work on the project in April.
Last month, a federal judge ruled against the Trump administration, saying the executive order was unlawful, LILP reported.
On January 2, Equinor filed a preliminary injunction against the Interior Department, requesting that the project be allowed to move forward. On January 14, a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the wind company.
Empire Wind said it will now focus on safely restarting construction activities that were halted during the suspension period. In addition, the project will continue to engage with the U.S. government to ensure the safe, secure and responsible execution of its operations.
Empire Wind is being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). According to the company, the project is 60% complete. “Construction is resuming immediately,” an Empire Wind spokesperson told LILP.
Once completed, the project would provide enough power to electrify approximately 500,000 homes in New York.
LILP reached out to Empire Wind for comment, but did not hear back as of press time.
Oceantic Network CEO Liz Burdock told MarineLog her company “welcomes” the ruling, adding, “Empire Wind is critical to securing New York’s electric grid, stabilizing rising energy costs for local communities, creating jobs, and achieving energy independence, underscoring the importance of building out America’s energy infrastructure to meet rising electricity demand.”
Governor Kathy Hochul added, “When they shut this down right before Christmas, shut it down, it drove a huge hole in our energy resiliency grid planning. So, I’m proud to say that the company has been successful in court. We’re going to continue doing what we have to do every single step of the way, but for now the wind turbines will be turning on.”
LILP reached out to the Interior Department, but the agency did not respond as of press time.