PROVIDENCE – Construction on Revolution Wind has resumed just two days after a U.S. District Court judge ruled in its favor
on Jan. 12, overturning a second stop‑work order that had been issued on Dec. 22 by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Orsted A/S spokesperson Meaghan Wims confirmed Wednesday.
Wims added that safety remains the top priority as construction resumed.
Michael F. Sabitoni, general secretary-treasurer of the Laborers' International Union of North America, celebrated the return of workers to the Revolution Wind site, calling it a victory for labor and family livelihoods. About
200 union workers – part of the roughly 2,000 employed through the project – are now back on the job.
"When the job stops, the stress does not. LIUNA New England workers just want certainty and the chance to keep saying 'I BUILT THAT!' " said Sabitoni, who also serves as the president of the Rhode Island Building & Construction Trades Council.
"Now we need certainty and an end to the political games."
At his 2026 "State of the State" address on Tuesday, a day before construction resumed, Gov. Daniel J. McKee vowed the state would continue defending the Revolution Wind project against federal interference.
“Until this project is complete, I will stand shoulder to shoulder with my fellow Democratic governors and put the full weight of our state behind this fight," McKee said. "Let me be clear: We will not back down.”
Orsted’s Revolution Wind project, located 15 miles southwest of Point Judith, is more than 80% complete but has been facing potential delays in first power delivery, originally scheduled for early this year. A stop-work order by the Trump administration aimed at Revolution Wind in the summer of 2025 was lifted in August by Senior Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after a brief review of regulatory compliance.
The December pause, by contrast, applied broadly to all offshore wind projects under construction and threatened to cause more significant delays.
Developers estimated they were losing $1.44 million each day of the pause, with a $6 billion fallout and potential contract breaches if the stop-work order wasn't overturned by Jan. 12.
Matthew McNulty is a PBN staff writer. He can be reached at McNulty@PBN.com or on X at @MattMcNultyNYC.
