NEW LONDON, CT – Work is set to resume on the Revolution Wind project, according to the governors from Connecticut and Rhode Island.
“This is a really good day for New London. This is a very good day for Connecticut, and as Dan McKee will remind us, this is a really good day for our entire region and what it means in terms of energy prices,” Gov. Ned Lamont said at a media briefing Tuesday in New London.
A day after the US District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction allowing Danish energy company Ørsted, the developer of the offshore wind farm Revolution Wind to restart work after a monthlong stoppage imposed by the Trump administration in August, Lamont and Mckee touted the legal win.
“We’re getting back to work” Lamont said, adding that wind turbine parts were ready to go at State Pier and installation work would resume Wednesday. New London is the home base for the project, located 15 miles off the coast of Rhode Island.
The project, estimated at about 80% complete, is expected to provide enough power for 350,000 homes in New England.
McKee was similarly upbeat, saying conversations with the Trump administration were ongoing.
“We’re having conversations with the Secretary of the Interior,” he said. “I’ve had multiple conversations with Ned. We’re also working with our congressional delegation.”
Both states still have a parallel legal case with Rhode Island District Court, similar to Ørsted’s to undo the stop work order, which are all still pending.
US Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said the reason for keeping the case going is to help strengthen Ørsted’s win. If a Rhode Island judge similarly sides against the administration, it would help in any defense should the Trump administration consider appealing the preliminary injunction, he said.
“It was a violation of contract law,” Courtney said. “It was a violation of the law of reliance in terms of whether people have the right to rely on decisions by the government to invest and hire people. And as we saw yesterday, Judge (Royce) Lamberth resoundingly rejected the government’s position and issued really an amazing order.”
He cited the fact that the court ordered the injunction for Ørsted without a stay, meaning the decision was immediately enforceable and that Ørsted could take immediate action to restart work.
Courtney said the administration’s arguments about national security being an issue had all been addressed years ago during the lengthy nine-year permitting period.
But that didn’t stop the issue spilling over into the House of Representatives on September 10, he said.
“The anti-offshore wind forces tried to jam an amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act, which would’ve codified an extra layer of permitting in terms of national security and defense issues,” Courtney said.
The decision could still be appealed, but a statement from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) part of the United States Department of the Interior that issued the stop work order on August 22, read in part, “As a result of the Court’s decision today (Monday), Revolution Wind will be able to resume construction as BOEM continues its investigation into possible impacts by the project to national security and prevention of other uses on the Outer Continental Shelf. The Department of the Interior remains committed to ensuring that prior decisions are legally and factually sound.”
The bureau did not respond to questions about whether it was considering appealing the decision.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong’s office also provided a statement about Connecticut’s and Rhode Island’s pending legal challenge saying, “We will continue pressing our litigation to ensure that Revolution Wind can be completed with certainty and without further delay and costs to workers and ratepayers who are struggling with high energy bills.”
Michael O’Connor the Executive Director of the Connecticut Port Authority, who oversaw the redevelopment of State Pier in New London into a hub for offshore wind, confirmed that apart from components for Revolution Wind at the pier, there were also parts arriving for Ørsted’s other project, Sunrise Wind, which will power New York homes.
“Everybody that’s working at the State Pier is aware of which components are stored, where, how to work through logistics of moving components in and out. The Trina (heavy cargo ship) has some components for Sunrise on her right now and remaining tower sections for the Revolution Wind Project.”
Despite the legal win, the work halt was costly, Lamont said.
“It was an interruption. It was a costly interruption,” he said. “Two million dollars a day.”
The project still could face other legal battles, too.
Rhode Island-based group, The Preservation Society of Newport County, filed complaints about Revolution Wind and South Fork Wind in federal court last year claiming that BOEM failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act when it permitted both projects, ignoring the impact on the views from Newport’s historic mansions and other significant landmarks and calling for a halt on development. Those cases are still pending.
When asked about legal challenges from organizations within his state, McKee said those issues have been debated and decided.
“So the people are coming in for another shot, another piece of the action, they are going to fail as well, just like (the Trump administration) did.”