The onset of the new year is ushering in fresh legal disputes for offshore wind energy in the US.
On December 22, the Trump administration declared a halt to the leases of five wind farms that are currently being constructed off the US East Coast. Developers were instructed to cease all activities immediately.
The stated reason? National security, particularly worries that wind turbines may interfere with radar systems. This is a recognized problem, and developers have been collaborating with the government to address it over the years.
Firms have been swift to initiate lawsuits, with court proceedings potentially commencing as early as this week. Here’s an overview of what this latest controversy could imply for the struggling offshore wind sector in the US.
This suspension impacts $25 billion in funding across five wind projects: Vineyard Wind 1 offshore Massachusetts, Revolution Wind near Rhode Island, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind adjacent to New York, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind situated off Virginia. Collectively, these initiatives were anticipated to generate 10,000 jobs and supply power to over 2.5 million residences and businesses.
In a statement announcing this decision, the Department of the Interior noted that “recently completed classified reports” indicated national security threats, and that the pause would afford the government the opportunity to address these concerns alongside developers. The statement specifically mentions that turbines may cause radar interference (additional technical details will follow).
Three of the involved companies have already lodged lawsuits, aiming for preliminary injunctions to permit construction to proceed. Orsted and Equinor (the developers behind Revolution Wind and Empire Wind, respectively) informed the New York Times that their projects underwent extensive federal evaluations, which did tackle national security concerns.
This marks yet another move from the Trump administration against offshore wind. On Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order halting any new lease approvals for offshore wind ventures. (A judge ultimately overturned that order in December.)
Last year, the administration also ordered Revolution Wind to halt operations, citing national security concerns again. A federal judge later lifted this stop-work order, after the developer demonstrated the significant financial implications and indicated that government bodies had previously identified no national security threats regarding the project.
Wind farms indeed present challenges for radar systems, which are critical for applications ranging from air traffic control to weather prediction to national defense. The rotation of a wind turbine can produce complex signatures on radar, leading to what is termed clutter.
Prior government assessments, including a 2024 report from the Department of Energy and a 2025 report from the Government Accountability Office (an independent governmental oversight body), have highlighted this issue previously.
“To date, no mitigation technology has been able to fully restore the technical performance of impacted radars,” states the DOE report. Nonetheless, there are methods that can assist, including software intended to eliminate the signatures produced by wind turbines. (This can be compared to noise-canceling headphones, though it’s more intricate, as one expert explained to TechCrunch.)
However, the most prevalent and beneficial strategy, according to the DOE report, is collaboration between developers and the government. By teaming up to strategically site and design wind farms, representatives can ensure that the initiatives do not disrupt government or military activities. The 2025 GAO report concluded that government officials, researchers, and offshore wind enterprises were working together effectively, with any issues being raised and resolved during the permitting phase.
This and similar obstacles pose risks to an industry that could provide substantial benefits to the grid. Particularly along the East Coast where these initiatives are established, and particularly in New England, winter can lead to limited availability of fossil fuels and soaring prices due to high demand. Interestingly, offshore winds tend to be strongest during the winter, which means that new projects, including the five embroiled in this dispute, could become crucial during the grid’s peak need times.
A 2025 study concluded that if 3.5 gigawatts of offshore wind had been operational during the winter of 2024-2025, it would have reduced energy costs by 11%. (This figure combines the capacity of Revolution Wind and Vineyard Wind, two of the paused projects, along with two additional projects in the pipeline.) Ratepayers would have collectively saved $400 million.
Prior to Donald Trump’s election, the energy consultancy BloombergNEF had predicted that the US would construct 39 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Currently, that forecast has plummeted to only 6 gigawatts. These legal conflicts could potentially drive that number down even further.
It’s perplexing to grasp that some of the projects under scrutiny are nearing completion. Developers of Revolution Wind have installed all foundations and 58 of the 65 turbines, claiming that the project is over 87% finished. Empire Wind is more than 60% complete and is expected to supply electricity to the grid next year.
Halting progress at such a crucial stage is daunting, not only for existing endeavors but for future offshore wind initiatives in the US. Even if these legal disputes are resolved and more developers can technically join the queue, what incentive is there for them? Billions of dollars are in play, and if there’s a single term to encapsulate the current status of the offshore wind sector in the US, it’s “unpredictable.”
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