BOSTON — Massachusetts has joined a court fight by the backers of Vineyard Wind over the Trump administration’s efforts to scuttle the $5 billion offshore wind project.
In a new U.S. District court filing, Attorney General Andrea Campbell urges the federal judge overseeing the case to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Interior Department from enforcing a stop work order on the project.
“To date, the defendants have not identified any actual ‘national security’ impacts, and numerous courts have preliminarily enjoined other nearly identical orders, ruling that similarly situated projects must be allowed to continue development to mitigate the risk of irreparably harming the project developers, the states counting on those projects, and the public interest,” Campbell wrote in the court filing.
Campbell’s legal filing comes in response a lawsuit filed nearly two weeks ago by Vineyard Wind, which alleges the Interior Department exceeded its authority when it decided to suspend the project’s lease last month, forcing developers of the nearly complete wind farm to pause the project.
In the 52-page complaint, Vineyard Wind lawyers argue the order violates federal law and if allowed to remain in effect “will lead to immediate and irreparable harm to the project, and to the communities who will benefit from this critical source of new power for the New England region.”
The company said it has spent more than $4.5 billion in engineering, planning, permitting, and construction costs for the project, which is nearly 60% complete. It’s losing about $2 million a day during the shutdown, according to the lawsuit.
The Vineyard Wind project off Martha’s Vineyard calls for 62 turbines capable of sending up to 400 megawatts to the regional electric grid.
The Interior Department announced last month that it was halting federal leases for large-scale offshore wind projects under construction, including Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind off the Massachusetts coast, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Sunrise Wind and the Empire Wind 1 project in New York.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum cited unspecified national security risks posed by the offshore wind turbines in pausing federal permits for the projects, but said the move is aimed at “protecting” the American people.
The Interior Department’s directive came weeks after a federal judge blocked a Jan. 20 Trump order that halted several offshore wind energy projects along the Atlantic Coast from Maine to New Jersey.
Developers of at least two of those projects — Empire Wind 1 and Revolution Wind — have secured court orders allowing construction to resume while their respective legal challenges play out in court. Backers of a third project were also granted a preliminary injunction last week.
Trump has vowed to end federal support for offshore wind and other clean energy projects as he focuses on boosting fossil fuel production as part of broader efforts to improve the nation’s energy independence.
In September, the president directed the U.S. Department of Transportation to cancel $679 million in federal funding for a dozen infrastructure projects that would support New England Wind and other projects, saying the plans “were not aligned with the goals and priorities of the administration.”
The cuts included a federal grant for the Salem Offshore Wind Terminal project, which got underway last summer after getting funding and state and federal permits.
In a separate statement, Campbell said her office “fully supports Vineyard Wind as it seeks to challenge the Trump administration’s baseless and arbitrary directive — which is plainly aimed at undermining the growth of the clean energy sector and further jeopardize the health and wellbeing of our communities.”
“Just weeks away from completion and already partially operational, the Vineyard Wind Project is a critical source of clean, reliable and affordable energy for Massachusetts residents,” she said. “The completion of this project is essential to ensuring our ability to lower costs, meet rising energy demand, advance our climate goals and sustain thousands of good paying jobs.”
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.