BY COMFORT OGBONNA
The Trump administration on Monday ordered a suspension of leases for five major offshore wind projects under construction off the U.S. East Coast, citing what it described as national security concerns, a move that sent shares of offshore wind developers sharply lower and intensified uncertainty across the clean energy sector.
The decision marks another major setback for offshore wind developers, who have faced repeated disruptions to multibillion-dollar projects during President Donald Trump’s tenure. Trump has long criticized wind energy, describing turbines as unattractive, expensive, and inefficient. The suspension drew swift condemnation from state officials, Democratic lawmakers, renewable energy companies, and industry trade groups, all of whom argued the move lacked credible justification and threatened jobs, investment, and energy reliability.
According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, the pause followed complaints from the Pentagon that offshore wind turbines could interfere with military radar systems. Officials said the movement of massive turbine blades, along with the reflective surfaces of turbine towers, could complicate the identification and tracking of potential security threats. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the administration’s primary responsibility was protecting the American people, emphasizing that national defense considerations must take precedence.
The suspension affects several high-profile projects, including Danish energy firm Orsted’s Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind developments, Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ Vineyard Wind 1 project, Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, and Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 project. Federal agencies will now use the pause to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess whether the perceived security risks can be mitigated, the Interior Department said.
Financial markets reacted swiftly to the announcement. Shares of Orsted fell more than 12%, while Dominion Energy and Equinor also traded lower, reflecting investor concern about regulatory instability and project delays.
Dominion warned that the suspension could threaten grid reliability in Virginia, including power supplies for military installations and large data centers that support artificial intelligence development. The company said the electricity generated by the offshore wind project was intended to support critical national priorities, including defense infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.
Orsted said its affected projects were already in advanced stages of development and had been preparing to begin supplying power to roughly one million homes across three states starting next year. The company said it was evaluating all available options with its partners to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Equinor also said it was reviewing the suspension, while Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners did not immediately comment.
State leaders reacted strongly to the decision. New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said their states were reviewing potential responses to the freeze. Hochul accused the administration of continuing what she described as an assault on clean energy and the thousands of well-paying jobs tied to offshore wind development, arguing there was no credible basis for halting projects that had already cleared extensive regulatory reviews.
Industry groups echoed those concerns. The National Ocean Industries Association urged the administration to lift the pause quickly, noting that the Department of Defense had been involved in approving the projects under previous administrations. The group said the existing regulatory process already includes a rigorous framework for evaluating national security implications and that all projects currently under construction had previously undergone defense reviews without objection.
Political tensions around the decision also spilled into Congress. The top Democrats leading the Senate’s environment and energy committees warned they would withhold support for bipartisan permitting reform efforts planned for 2026 unless the administration reverses course on offshore wind. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said that attacks on fully permitted renewable energy projects must be reversed for any meaningful progress on permitting reform talks.
The suspension follows a series of earlier confrontations between the administration and offshore wind developers. In August, Orsted was ordered to halt construction on its Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island, although a federal judge later lifted that ban. Earlier this year, the administration removed a stop-work order on Equinor’s Empire Wind project as part of a compromise with New York state that advanced a natural gas pipeline backed by Trump.
Trump has consistently campaigned against offshore wind, promising to shut down the industry while promoting expanded oil and gas development. He has repeatedly claimed that wind turbines harm whales and birds and impose excessive costs on consumers. The ongoing policy uncertainty has weighed heavily on developers’ finances, with Orsted raising $9.4 billion earlier this year to help fund U.S. projects after potential partners grew wary of regulatory risks linked to the administration’s stance.
Interior Secretary Burgum has also said the administration is concerned that offshore wind installations could increase U.S. vulnerability to emerging threats, including coordinated drone attacks. Those concerns now sit at the center of a growing legal, political, and economic battle over the future of offshore wind in the United States.
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