Democratic AGs Keep Wind Energy Whirling with CT, RI Win and New NY Lawsuits

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  • Following Connecticut AG William Tong’s and Rhode Island AG Peter Neronha’s opposition to a U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) stop-work order issued to Revolution Wind’s offshore energy project, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has granted a preliminary injunction suspending the order. In their opposition, the AGs had argued that the stop-work order would cause immediate harm to their states and residents. According to AG Tong’s press release, the court found that the stop-work order, which cited national security concerns, was likely arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and concluded that the challengers are likely to succeed on the merits.
  • Meanwhile, New York AG Letitia James filed two lawsuits challenging stop-work orders that the DOI issued for the Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind offshore wind projects. The complaints allege that the agency halted the projects based on undisclosed national security concerns and that it did not adequately justify the reversal of prior approvals, for which the projects underwent extensive national security and environmental review, thereby rendering the orders arbitrary and capricious. The complaints ask the court to declare the orders unlawful and to block their enforcement.
  • We previously covered a related challenge brought by a group of 18 Democratic AGs, led by AG James, which resulted in summary judgment blocking a presidential directive that suspended all federal approvals for wind energy projects.
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