Trump’s war on offshore wind faces another lawsuit

Dominion Energy, an offshore wind developer and utility serving Virginia’s “data center alley,” sued the Trump administration this week over its decision to temporarily pause federal leases for large offshore wind projects. The move puts an abrupt halt to five wind farms already under construction, including the Dominion offshore wind project in coastal Virginia.

The complaint filed by Dominion on Tuesday alleges that the stop-work order issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Monday is unlawful, “arbitrary and capricious” and “violates constitutional principles limiting the actions of the executive branch.” Dominion wants a federal court to block BOEM from enforcing the stop-work order.

The lawsuit also argues that the “sudden and baseless withdrawal of regulatory approvals by government officials” threatens developers’ ability to build large-scale infrastructure projects needed to meet growing U.S. energy demand.

“Virginia needs every electron we can get as our electricity demand doubles,” Dominion said in a Dec. 22 press release. “These electrons will power the data centers that will win the AI ​​race.” Virginia is home to the largest concentration of data centers in the world, according to the company.

The rush to build new AI data centers — coupled with growing energy demand from manufacturing and the electrification of homes and vehicles — has increased pressure on already strained power grids. As a result, rising electricity costs have become a flashpoint in Virginia state elections, and in communities near data center projects across the United States. Dominion warns that construction delays at its Virginia coastal offshore wind farm are increasing project costs that customers ultimately pay.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who is named as one of the defendants in the lawsuit, said a 90-day moratorium on offshore wind leases would allow the agency to address national security risks, which were apparently recently identified in classified reports. The US Interior Department also cited concerns about the turbines causing radar interference.

“I want to know what changed?” Kirk Lippold, a national security expert and former commander of the destroyer USS Cole, told The Associated Press. “To my knowledge, nothing has changed in the threat environment that would cause us to halt any offshore wind programs.”

The Trump administration previously halted construction on the Revolution Wind Farm off the coast of Rhode Island and the Empire Wind Project offshore New York before a federal judge and BOEM lifted stop-work orders. These projects have now been put on hold again. President Donald Trump issued a presidential memorandum upon taking office in January withdrawing areas on the outer continental shelf from offshore wind leasing, which a federal judge struck down earlier this month for being “arbitrary and capricious.”

Dominion Energy says it has already obtained all necessary federal, state and local approvals for its coastal Virginia wind farm, which breaks ground in 2024. The company has already spent $8.9 billion so far on the $11.2 billion project that was expected to begin generating power next year. The offshore wind farm, once fully operational, is supposed to be able to produce 9.5 million megawatt-hours annually of carbon-free electricity, which could be used by about 660,000 homes in the United States.