The Trump administration has suspended the authority of five major offshore wind farms to keep building in federal waters, yet another escalation of the administration’s attacks on the wind energy industry.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a post on X that five leases, all on the East Coast, were being paused due to “national security concerns.”
“Due to national security concerns identified by @DeptofWar, @Interior is PAUSING leases for 5 expensive, unreliable, heavily subsidized offshore wind farms!” Burgum wrote.
“ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED. @POTUS is bringing common sense back to energy policy & putting security FIRST!” he added.
While Burgum’s tweet did not detail what the alleged concerns were, Fox News reported that they were related to potential radar interference.
Fox, which was given the news first, reported that the five offshore wind farms in question were: Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind.
Together, these projects would be expected to generate enough electricity to power up to about 2.5 million homes, according to their project websites.
Their pause comes as the administration has repeatedly sought to hamper renewable energy — especially offshore wind.
This has included through the issuance of “stop work orders” to halt construction of several offshore wind farms.
The administration first sought to halt Empire Wind’s construction, but later reversed itself after discussions with Gov. Kathy Hochul (D).
Meanwhile, after the Trump administration issued a stop work order to the nearly-complete Revolution Wind, a federal judge preliminarily allowed its construction to move forward in September.
The suspension of the leases represents a further escalation of that effort — and another mechanism through which construction of wind power can be halted.
The Interior Department did not immediately respond to questions from The Hill.
The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), a trade group representing both offshore oil and offshore wind, said the administration should end the pause on the leases.
“Offshore wind improves our national security by shifting economic, infrastructure, and geopolitical advantages to the U.S. through increased shipbuilding, enhancements to our ports, greater energy security to power surging electricity demand, more manufacturing and good-paying jobs, additional business for the oil and gas supply chain, and collaborative opportunities for our military,” said NOIA president Erik Milito in a written statement. “In short, offshore wind helps the U.S. achieve its energy dominance goals.”
“We urge the administration [to] end this pause and to resist taking further action that may harm jobs and investment, as well as undermine our economic and geopolitical competition with China,” Milito said.