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Attorney General Secures Preliminary Injunction to Block Latest Trump Attempt to Stop Revolution Wind
Attorney General Tong issued a press release about being granted a preliminary injunction to block latest Trump attempt to stop Revolution Wind.
From Press Release:
[ *** ] Attorney General William Tong today announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has granted a preliminary injunction to block the Trump Administration’s latest effort to suspend work on the Revolution Wind offshore wind project. Work on the nearly complete project may now resume.
“A federal judge has once again blocked Trump’s efforts to tank Revolution Wind, finding yet again that his actions are likely arbitrary and capricious and that our challenge is likely to succeed. This project is on the finish line to begin delivering clean, affordable energy to Connecticut families. With yet another clear defeat, it is my hope that Donald Trump will drop his lawless and erratic attacks for good. We’re prepared to keep fighting—and winning– for as long as it takes to protect Connecticut ratepayers, workers and our environment,” said Attorney General Tong.
The Trump Administration first issued a stop work order on August 22. Connecticut and Rhode Island sued. Developer Ørsted sued separately. The federal district court in
the Ørsted challenge issued an injunction, allowing work on Revolution Wind to proceed. Then, on December 22, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management once again suspended work on the Revolution Wind offshore wind project for at least 90 days, citing undisclosed national security concerns. Ørsted sought a preliminary injunction to block this latest stop work order. Connecticut and Rhode Island filed their own request, outlining the immediate harm facing their states and residents.
Located fifteen nautical miles off the coast of Rhode Island, Revolution Wind is a wind energy facility expected to deliver enough electricity to the New England grid to power 350,000 homes, or 2.5 percent of the region’s electricity supply. The project had been on track to begin delivering power to the New England grid this month, supplying much needed power during the challenging winter heating season.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection had estimated that a 90-day delay in the construction and operation of Revolution Wind would cost ratepayers in Connecticut and the broader New England region approximately $350,000 per day, for a total of $31 million in higher electricity costs.
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. The project has been vetted and approved through every layer of the federal and state regulatory process and is supported by binding contracts and legal mandates.
Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Cheney, Special Assistant Attorney General Jessica Gibree, Deputy Associate Attorney General Matthew Levine, Chief of the Environment Section, Deputy Solicitor General Evan O’Roark and Solicitor General Michael Skold are assisting the Attorney General in this matter.
