Trump administration pauses Revolution Wind again; CT leaders defend offshore energy project
Connecticut will defeat what Attorney General William Tong called “a new brazen attempt” from the administration of President Donald Trump to block construction of the Revolution Wind project on national security grounds.
The U.S. Department of the Interior on Monday announced the federal government is pausing leases for Revolution Wind off the coast of southern New England and four other offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast over Pentagon concerns they would interfere with military radar systems.
The pause announced Monday comes three months after a federal judge overturned a stop-work order on the Revolution Wind project that the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued in August.
Construction on Revolution Wind, an offshore wind farm located 15 miles south of Rhode Island and 32 miles southeast of Connecticut, resumed in October. It is nearly 85% complete. When up and running, the wind farm is expected to produce enough electricity to power about 325,000 homes.
The pause on the five offshore wind projects will give the Department of the Interior to work with the Department of the Defense and other federal agencies time to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects with leaseholders and state governments, the Monday announcement said.
“The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in the statement. “Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our East Coast population centers. The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people.”
In a statement, Tong said Connecticut will overcome this latest obstacle to the Revolution Wind project.
“This appears to be a second, even more lawless and erratic stop work order, reviving the Trump administration’s prior failed attempt to halt construction of Revolution Wind,” Tong said. “We went to court over this before. There is a court order blocking their prior stop work order and this appears to be a new brazen attempt to circumvent that order. The project has been vetted and approved through every layer of federal and state regulatory process, including a careful review of the issues raised in this announcement.”
Earlier this month, a representative for Orsted, a Danish energy company and one of the wind farm’s developers, reported Revolution Wind remained on track to reach completion in the second half of 2026. At that time, the project was about 85% complete, with 52 of 65 turbines, all 65 turbine foundations and two offshore substations installed.
In addition to Revolution Wind, the Department of the Interior order also applied to Orsted's Sunrise Wind project, a large-scale, 924-megawatt wind farm under construction off the coast of New York and New England that is also nearing completion.
Revolution Wind will be the first offshore wind farm serving Connecticut and Rhode Island, providing 704 megawatts of electricity as state officials look to expand renewable energy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The wind farm sits in federal waters in the Atlantic Ocean, with staging operations based at the State Pier in New London.
Tong’s office said Revolution Wind is projected to save Connecticut and Rhode Island ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars over 20 years. The Revolution Wind project supports over 2,500 jobs nationwide in the construction, operations, shipbuilding and manufacturing sectors, including over 1,000 union construction jobs.
In a statement, Orsted said it is evaluating all of its options regarding the Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects. Meanwhile, Orsted said it is complying with the respective orders and taking appropriate steps to suspend related activities in a manner that prevents impacts on health, safety and the environment.
Gov. Ned Lamont also blasted the Trump administration’s latest move to block Revolution Wind.
“This is yet another erratic, anti-business move by the Trump administration that will drive up the price of electricity in Connecticut and throughout the region. At a time when my administration is working tirelessly to ensure Connecticut has a diverse energy supply and lower utility costs for families and businesses, the White House continues to be an obstacle,” Lamont said in a statement.
“This project is nearing completion and providing good-paying clean energy jobs,” he said. “Businesses and residents deserve economic predictability, yet with the administration’s constant starts and stops they’re left with the opposite, so the one thing the people of Connecticut can count on is that we will stand up to the Trump administration and ensure this project continues to move forward.”
U.S. Rep. Joseph Courtney, D-2nd District, blasted the latest move from the Trump administration, saying in a statement that there have been clear decisions in all three branches of government that offshore wind power does not present a national security threat. He also quoted a December 2024 letter from the Department of the Defense under then-President Joe Biden that stated the Revolution Wind project would not adversely effect the department’s missions in the area.
Courtney further noted that U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month rejected an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2026 fiscal year that sought to raise national security as a statutory bar to offshore wind projects. Trump signed the annual defense policy bill Dec. 18.
“The Trump administration promised to cut energy prices in half,” he said in the statement. “We know that President Trump has a longstanding personal vendetta against offshore wind. Pausing these projects without any real justification will do nothing but increase costs for ratepayers and eliminate good paying jobs for the building trades.”
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., announced that he has sent a letter to Burgum demanding an explanation for the Trump administration's pause on Revolution Wind and the four other offshore wind projects, including information and records detailing how the Department of the Interior made its recent decisions to issue the stop-work orders.
“While the Trump administration plays political games with Revolution Wind, here’s what’s at stake for Connecticut: the loss of good paying union jobs, billions of public and private dollars wasted, and higher electricity prices. This latest attack on Revolution Wind is even more absurd than the first one. The president cites national security risks, but has not been able to prove or demonstrate that such risks even exist,” Blumenthal said in a statement.
U.S. Reps. John B. Larson, D-1st District, and Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3rd District, also issued statements condemning the Trump administration’s action. Larson said the latest pause is as baseless as the first one, and DeLauro said Revolution Wind is not a national security threat and said the administration’s “absurd delays” must stop.