(NEW YORK) — The Trump administration has reversed a pause on construction of a massive offshore wind project off the coasts of New York and New Jersey.
Work on Empire Wind, the wind farm being built 15 to 30 miles south of the coast of Long Island, can resume now that the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has lifted a stop-work order, according to Equinor, the Norweigian energy company developing the site.
On April 16, Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt construction on the wind project. In a post to X, Burgum claimed that further review was needed and that the Biden administration “rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.”
Construction was about 30% complete, and the project was fully permitted at the time the stop order was issued, according to the energy company.
The stop-work order was lifted “following dialogue with regulators and federal, state, and city officials,” according to Equinor.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Monday that it took “countless conversations with Equinor and White House officials” to emphasize the importance of the project, while Burgum posted to X that he was “encouraged by Governor Hochul’s comments about her willingness to move forward on critical pipeline capacity,” although Hochul did not mention natural gas in her statement.
“New York’s economic future is going to be powered by abundant, clean energy that helps our homes and businesses thrive. I fought to save clean energy jobs in New York — and we got it done,” Hochul said.
The continuation of the project will allow Equinor to deliver energy while supporting local economies and creating jobs, Anders Opeda, president and CEO of Equinor ASA, said in a statement.
“I would like to thank President Trump for finding a solution that saves thousands of American jobs and provides for continued investments in energy infrastructure in the U.S.,” Opeda said. “I am grateful to Governor Hochul for her constructive collaboration with the Trump Administration, without which we would not have been able to advance this project and secure energy for 500,000 homes in New York.”
Wind is the largest source of renewable energy in the U.S., accounting for about 10% of electricity generated in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
What to know about Empire Wind
Norwegian energy company Equinor spent seven years obtaining permits to build Empire Wind, a project slated to power more than 500,000 homes in New York by 2026.
The site will encompass 80,000 acres with up to 130 or more wind turbines, according to the company.
The federal lease for Empire Wind was finalized during Trump’s first term, in March 2017, AP reported. In February 2024, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved Equinor’s operations and construction plan, and construction began later in the year.
The project is expected to deliver “abundant, reliable and affordable” domestic power to the Northeast as it capitalizes on billions of dollars invested and years of preparation to date and load continues to grow, Eric Hines, director of Tufts University’s Offshore Wind Graduate Program, told ABC News.
“Moving forward on Empire Wind, New York and the United States are setting the stage for a new era of American manufacturing,” Hines said.
The decision to resume construction on Empire Wind “is incredibly important for New York State,” especially since energy needs in the state are expected to double within the next 15 years, Lara Skinner, executive director of the Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell University’s ILR School, told ABC News.
“Offshore wind is particularly well-suited to New York because most of NY’s electricity is consumed in NYC and it’s difficult to get power into the city from upstate,” Skinner said. “There is not sufficient transmission infrastructure. Offshore wind helps alleviate the problem by generating power near the point of consumption.”
The project has already created 1,500 jobs at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal and was on track to provide another 1,000 good union jobs in the construction of the project, Skinner said.
“Offshore wind is responsible for creating thousands of jobs across the U.S., powering homes with clean energy, and bolstering our nation’s energy independence,” Nancy Pyne, senior advisor for offshore wind at the Sierra Club, and environmental nonprofit, said in a statement.
A rapid buildout of renewable energy sources, “especially offshore wind,” will be required to achieve the greenhouse gas reductions required by New York’s climate law, Rachel Spector, deputy managing attorney at environmental nonprofit Earthjustice, told ABC News.
“The Empire Wind project will allow retirement of fossil fuel power plants that pollute the air, and in partnership with labor and community leaders it is supporting development of a staging and port facility that will further support the wind industry and create thousands of local jobs,” Spector said.
Trump’s past criticism of wind turbines
The reversal contradicts the critical stance Trump has been taking on wind power since his first term.
In May 2024, Trump claimed during a rally in New Jersey that wind turbines “kill” whales, vowing to write an executive order on “Day 1” to end offshore wind projects.
Trump kept that promise on Inauguration Day, when he signed an executive order that effectively paused the development of new offshore wind projects in the Outer Continental Shelf, withdrawing areas in the region from consideration for new and renewed leases.
The White House cited “alleged legal deficiencies” in the leasing and permitting of onshore and offshore wind projects that could lead to “grave harm” such as negative impacts on navigational safety interests, transportation interests, national security interests, commercial interests and marine mammals.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has refuted claims that the noise from offshore wind turbines causes whale deaths.
Earlier this month, attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., sued the Trump administration over an executive order signed on Inauguration Day that halted permits for wind projects.
“This arbitrary and unnecessary directive threatens the loss of thousands of good-paying jobs and billions in investments, and it is delaying our transition away from the fossil fuels that harm our health and our planet,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, lead of the coalition, said in a statement.
In the lawsuit, the coalition of states argued that the blockade on all wind energy projects was unlawful and sought a preliminary injunction to immediately stop the administration from enforcing the freeze.
“The attorneys general argue this unilateral halt on wind energy development is harming states’ ability to provide reliable, affordable electricity to their residents,” the statement read.
In a statement to AP, the White House accused Democrats of “using lawfare to stop the president’s popular energy agenda.
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