The Trump administration missed last week’s deadline to appeal a federal judge’s decision ordering work to resume on the Revolution Wind project, handing another victory to advocates and local officials who have fought to keep the project afloat.
Construction of the of the 704-megawatt wind farm — which is being staged from the State Pier in New London — was allowed to resume on Sept. 22 after U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that the federal government lacked justification when it halted work on the project earlier this year.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which issued the stop-work order, had 60 days to appeal the judge’s decision. That deadline passed on Friday, Nov. 21 with no action taken by the federal government.
“The Trump administration is rightly choosing not to continue to defend the indefensible,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement Monday. “Trump’s erratic actions were the height of arbitrary and capricious government action, and their decision not to pursue this defense is further confirmation of that. This is a major win for Connecticut workers and Connecticut families.”
A BOEM spokesperson declined to comment Monday.
In response to a series of questions seeking clarity on whether the administration was dropping its opposition to Revolution Wind, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly provided a statement that included no mention of the project or the court ruling.
“In just a few months, President Trump has ended Joe Biden’s war on American energy and restored American energy dominance,” the statement read. “This means prioritizing the most effective and reliable tools to power our country, which includes following through on his promise to ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ and unleash domestic oil, gas, and nuclear power — supporting thousands of good-paying energy jobs across the country.”
Revolution Wind was already 80% complete when the stop-work order was issued in August. All the foundations for the project’s massive turbines had been driven into the seafloor.
The Trump administration cited unspecified national security concerns as its rationale for halting the project. The project’s proponents said it had undergone extensive reviews during the years-long permitting process, which included approvals from the federal Department of Defense.
Revolution Wind’s developers, which include Danish energy company Ørsted, filed suit challenging the stop-work order in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Lamberth, the judge in the case, was appointed to the bench by former President Ronald Reagan. In remarks from the bench in September, Lamberth chided the the government for failing to provide evidence to support its order, which he called “the height of arbitrary and capricious action.”
“There is no question in my mind of irreparable harm,” Lamberth said, adding that the developers were required to meet strict deadlines to get the project up and running.
Since work resumed in September, the project has progressed to around 85% completion, according to Ørsted’s most recent quarterly earnings report. Construction is currently slated to finish in the second half of 2026.
A spokesperson for Revolution Wind declined to comment on the government’s decision not to appeal Lamberth’s ruling.
A second lawsuit challenging the federal government’s action against Revolution Wind was filed in September by Tong and his counterpart in Rhode Island, Democratic Attorney General Peter Neronha. That case remains pending as of Monday.
The project employs nearly 1,200 workers across both states, according to the lawsuit, including more than 100 jobs at the State Pier in New London. The wind farm itself is located in federal waters off the coast of Block Island.
Both Connecticut and Rhode Island also signed agreements to purchase the power produced by Revolution Wind once it is online. Under the terms of its contract, Connecticut’s utilities will purchase up to 304 megawatts for $99 per megawatt-hour.
Separately this week, another federal judge in Washington, D.C. is considering whether the Trump administration erred in its decision to halt all approvals for future offshore wind projects, according to Reuters. Trump announced that order as part of a flurry of executive actions upon his return to office on Jan. 20.
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.