An article from
Dive Brief
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., one of the senators sponsoring the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, said in a statement, “this is how you blow up a permitting deal.”
Published Oct. 22, 2026
Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Justice has filed motions in federal court asking judges to revoke the Department of the Interior’s Biden-era approvals of the construction and operation plans for offshore wind projects including the 2.2 GW Maryland Offshore Wind, 2.6 GW New England Wind, and 700-MW Revolution Wind – the last of which completed offshore construction and has been delivering power to New England’s grid since March.
- The motions could complicate agreement on permitting reform contained in the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, which was unveiled in September. One provision of the bill aims to prevent federal agencies from engaging in resource favoritism.
- A deal to advance the legislation was reached after President Donald Trump reportedly told Democratic lawmakers that wind and solar energy projects would be given better treatment in the bill. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., one of the senators sponsoring the bill, told Utility Dive in a statement, “This is how you blow up a permitting deal.”
Dive Insight:
The Trump administration has worked to prevent the deployment of offshore wind in several ways, including a December stop work order that halted construction on five projects in development, and efforts to buy back offshore wind leases from developers — with payment generally contingent on developers agreeing to invest an equal amount into U.S. deployment of other energy sources like oil, gas and geothermal.
Revolution Wind is a 50/50 venture between Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables. Ørsted spokesperson Karl-Erik Stromsta told Utility Dive that the project “recently” completed offshore construction, and further project updates will come at Ørsted’s next earnings call scheduled for Nov. 5.
US Wind’s Maryland Offshore Wind and Avangrid’s New England Wind are earlier in their development timeline than Revolution Wind, and neither developer has announced commencing construction.
The DOJ’s three motions to revoke construction and operation plans were filed in the dockets of cases filed by other parties in opposition to the offshore wind projects. The DOJ’s Maryland Offshore Wind motion was filed in a lawsuit brought by the mayor and city council of Ocean City, who oppose the project, against Interior. The other two cases were originally filed by ACK For Whales and Green Oceans, two New England anti-offshore wind marine life advocacy groups.
A February filing from U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher for the District of Maryland in the US Wind case said that the developer “is not currently awaiting any federal approval or response to any filing related to the project. However, it is also not currently proceeding with the next steps in developing the project … because of the significant cost of that undertaking and the risk that US Wind would lose that investment given the alleged decision to revoke the COP approval.”
The Trump administration has argued in court that the Interior Department’s approvals of these projects during the Biden administration may have violated the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and Interior must reassess each approval.
In the Maryland case, DOJ wrote that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s “decision documents list relevant ‘moderate adverse’ and ‘major adverse’ impacts to certain resources, such as impacts to various endangered species … but nevertheless determine that the [construction and operations plan] could be approved despite those impacts. For those reasons, the COP needs to be reconsidered.”
Tony Irish, a former associate solicitor with the Interior Department and now senior counsel at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told Utility Dive in an email, “Interior's recent filings upend not only the settled expectations of Congress with regards to their permitting deal, but those of producers of energy of all forms.”
Irish said it was “outrageous for [Interior] Secretary [Doug] Burgum to take active energy production off the grid in New England as winter approaches and the oil and gas market remains in flux” and noted that the federal Endangered Species Committee in March exempted Gulf oil and gas activities from Endangered Species Act protection.
The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is awaiting action in the Senate’s Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. At a Sept. 30 press conference, Whitehouse said that amendments to the bill will be considered when the Senate reconvenes in November.