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WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is asking a federal judge to return a key approval for the New England Wind project to the Interior Department for reconsideration, raising fresh concerns about the certainty of federal energy permits.
The request targets a Massachusetts offshore wind farm planned to include up to 129 wind turbines, with capacity to supply as much as 2,600 megawatts of clean energy to power more than 900,000 homes each year. Construction has not begun, and developer Avangrid declined to comment Wednesday.
In a filing Tuesday, the Justice Department argued that Interior should be allowed to revisit the project’s "construction and operations plan" because the approval was granted despite major adverse impacts. The Biden administration approved the plan in 2024.
The move comes as lawmakers pursue legislation intended to accelerate permitting reviews for energy and infrastructure projects. The Senate reached a bipartisan deal in September, but the bill has not yet received a vote.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, warned that the administration’s latest action could derail that effort.
"This is how you blow up a permitting deal", he said in a statement Wednesday.
The National Ocean Industries Association, which represents offshore businesses including oil and wind, also expressed concern about reopening federal approvals, especially for projects already being built or operating.
"The Senate has made meaningful progress on deep reforms that would provide greater certainty for energy projects across the board", said the association’s president, Erik Milito. The administration’s actions "underscore why Congress needs to get this done", he said.
The New England Wind approval is being challenged by ACK for Whales, a group of Nantucket, Massachusetts, residents concerned about offshore wind development’s negative impacts. Its lawsuit in District Court for the District of Columbia alleges that the federal government failed to comply with numerous statutes.
Federal defendants asked the court Tuesday to remand the permit so Interior could issue a new decision. The government had also told the court in 2025 that it wanted to reconsider the approval.
Interior said Wednesday that the filing followed a briefing schedule rather than announcing a policy change. The department said its position on offshore wind has remained consistent throughout the administration.
President Donald Trump has criticized offshore wind as "ugly" and unreliable compared with fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. His administration has sought to stop offshore wind development through executive orders, agency actions and court proceedings.
Pasha Feinberg, an offshore wind strategist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said those efforts are escalating while Americans face surging utility bills.
"It’s long past time for the Trump administration to realize its war on clean energy is backfiring", Feinberg said.
Interior is also seeking to revisit construction and operations approvals for Revolution Wind, a project for Rhode Island and Connecticut that has completed construction, and the Maryland Offshore Wind Project, where construction has not begun.
In August, a judge allowed the administration to reconsider the permit for Atlantic Shores, a stalled New Jersey project. Work had stopped soon after Trump returned to office because co-owner Shell walked away.
Last year, a federal judge also allowed reconsideration of the permit for SouthCoast Wind, a Massachusetts project approved days before Trump’s inauguration to a second term.
The administration began buying back offshore wind leases after federal judges blocked its attempts to stop construction on five major East Coast projects.
Among the projects it tried to halt was Vineyard Wind, which Avangrid built off Massachusetts in a joint venture with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. The administration cited national security concerns in seeking to stop construction. Construction finished in March, making Vineyard Wind the first project to reach that stage during Trump’s time in office.
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