US Judge allows Danish firm Orsted to resume Rhode Island offshore project that Trump stopped
The federal court on Monday allowed Danish offshore wind developer Orsted, along with four other projects that were halted by the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump last month, to resume work on their nearly completed Revolution Wind project.
The decision?by?U.S. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth represents a legal defeat for Trump who had sought to stop the expansion of offshore winds in federal waters.
Orsted's Revolution Wind suit is one of many filed by offshore companies and states to reverse Interior Department's suspension of five offshore?leases on December 22, citing national security concerns.
Orsted or the Interior Department did not immediately comment.
Attorneys for the government argued the pause in offshore wind development was justified because of new classified information about the impact on national security that had been revealed by the Defense Department last November.
Lamberth rejected administration arguments that national security concerns justify halting of the project. He said the project would be irreparably damaged without an injunction.
Lamberth, the former president Ronald Reagan's nominee, asked Justice Department Attorney Peter Torstensen at the hearing: "You want stop everything in place and cost them one-and a half million dollars a day while you decide what to do?"
Janice Schneider, an attorney for Revolution Wind, argued that the government's pause violated federal laws on administrative procedure and due processes. She added that the developer was not able to review the classified assessment of offshore wind.
Schneider stated that the court should be skeptical about the true intentions of government in this case.
Orsted and other offshore wind developers have been subjected to repeated disruptions of multi-billion dollar wind turbine projects by U.S. president Donald Trump. Trump has stated that he finds wind turbines ugly, costly, and inefficient.
Orsted said that the project was about 87% completed and it is expected to start generating electricity this year.
Orsted's Skyborn Renewables and Global Infrastructure Partners' Orsted have formed a joint venture called Revolution?Wind. Orsted also filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sunrise Wind, a project located off the coasts of New York.
The hearing on Monday was the first in a series of preliminary injunctions to be heard this week, in cases seeking to stop the offshore wind pause. Equinor Empire Wind off the coasts of New York and Dominion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind are also involved. Reporting by Nichola Grroom; Editing and design by Edmund Klamann, David Gregorio
(source: Reuters)
