Offshore wind may become legal battleground with Trump move
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There are mounting signs that Trump officials will face litigation over their decision to halt construction of Equinor's Empire Wind project off New York's coast.
Why it matters: The Interior Department's order is a major escalation of Trump 2.0's moves against offshore wind, which have already barred future leases and approvals.
- The stop-construction demand this week shows that Interior sees wide running room under President Trump's January memo targeting wind energy, which called for a review of permitting.
Driving the news: NY Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Equinor hinted at going to court to allow the multibillion-dollar project to resume.
- "We're exploring all legal options on this," Paul DeMichele, a spokesperson for the governor's office, tells Axios via email.
- "Empire is engaging with relevant authorities to clarify this matter and is considering its legal remedies, including appealing the order," Equinor said in a statement yesterday that noted it's complying with the demand.
What they're saying: Five U.S. offshore wind projects are in some phase of construction, and some analysts vary on their peril based on work status.
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum "seems to be pursuing a bifurcated approach to offshore wind," ClearView Energy Partners said in a note.
- Under that approach, ClearView said, the administration "will allow a few projects in advanced stages of development (i.e., significant construction completed) to move forward even as others — including fully permitted ones like Empire Wind — do not."
The other side: Burgum alleged major problems in Biden officials' analysis of Empire Wind en route to approving the project, and claimed they "rushed" it.
Yes, but: The research firm BloombergNEF, in a note, points out Empire spent 46.4 months in the federal permitting process.
- Their metric is time between a developer submitting a construction and operations plan and the Interior Department issuing a formal "record of decision."
- The average for 11 federally approved projects is 41.7 months, they found.
- A reminder that just one large-scale U.S. project is in operation thus far, while a number have been canceled or delayed.
What we're watching: Interior's review of what Burgum claimed — without details — are "serious deficiencies" in the Empire Wind approval process.
