Revolution Wind challenges Trump cancelation of offshore Rhode Island wind project
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Revolution Wind has filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in order to challenge the Trump administration’s stop-work order on its wind power project 15 miles off of Rhode Island’s coast.
According to the Thursday statement from Revolution Wind, they will also seek a preliminary injunction against the action taken by Trump’s U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
Revolution Wind stated that BOEM lacked legal authority for the order and that “the stop-work order’s stated basis violated applicable law.”
The statement continued, in part:
Revolution Wind secured all required federal and state permits in 2023, following reviews that began more than nine years ago. Federal reviews and approvals included the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Marine Fisheries Service, and several other agencies. Revolution Wind has spent and committed billions of dollars in reliance upon this fulsome review process.
The project is 80 percent complete, according to Revolution Wind, and once completed would power more than 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
The statement also said that experts warned pausing the wind farm’s construction will increase energy costs in the region.
The initial order to cease work on the project was issued on August 22.
