PROVIDENCE – Orsted A/S won a key legal victory Monday as a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s order to pause on offshore wind projects, a ruling that allows construction of the Revolution Wind project to resume immediately.
Judge Royce C. Lamberth granted the company’s preliminary injunction,
filed Jan. 1, during a hearing Monday afternoon, according to court records. A written order is expected soon.
The decision reverses the administration’s suspension of work on sea-based wind farms, which was imposed on Dec. 22 and had effectively put all large-scale U.S. offshore wind construction on hold.
After the ruling, Orsted spokesperson Meaghan Wims said the developer “will determine how best it may be possible to work with the US Administration to achieve an expeditious and durable resolution.”
“The project will resume construction work as soon as possible, with safety as the top priority, and to deliver affordable, reliable power to the Northeast,” Wims said in a statement.
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 a Lamberth 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.
Hours before Monday afternoon’s hearing, Moody’s Ratings revised Orsted’s outlook to negative, citing the lease suspension and the resulting risks of construction delays, higher costs, and delayed revenues for projects including Revolution Wind.
Analysts noted that prolonged regulatory pauses like December’s could have pushed completion months later, affecting both regional energy supply and the company’s financial projections.
Over the weekend, President Donald J. Trump underscored his opposition to wind energy, telling oil industry leaders that “I’ve told my people we will not approve windmills … We will not approve any windmills in this country."
Meanwhile, Rhode Island and Connecticut filed a separate lawsuit last week, seeking to defend the project and ensure that Revolution Wind can deliver power to the regional grid as planned.
(Updated to include a statement from Orsted in the fourth and fifth paragraphs.)
Matthew McNulty is a PBN staff writer. He can be reached at McNulty@PBN.com or on X at @MattMcNultyNYC.
