Dominion Energy wind turbines located 44 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach in the Atlantic Ocean on July 17, 2023.
Kendall Warner | Virginia Pilot | Getty Images
The Trump administration on Monday canceled the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Farm, the largest project of its kind in the United States, and four other projects under construction off the East Coast, dealing a devastating blow to the wind industry.
shares of dominion energyShares of utility companies developing projects in Virginia fell nearly 4% on the news.
The administration also suspended leases for the Vineyard Wind 1 off the coast of Massachusetts, the Revolution Wind off the coast of Rhode Island, the Sunrise Wind off the coast of Long Island and New England, and the Empire Wind 1 off southern Long Island.
Together, the projects will provide enough electricity to power more than 2 million homes, according to a developer statement.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the government suspended leasing the project after the Pentagon cited national security concerns.
Shares in Denmark’s Orsted, the developer of the Revolution and Sunrise projects, fell 11%. Norwegian Equinorwhich developed Empire Wind 1, fell about 1%.
Dominion says the Virginia Coastal Offshore Wind project is a 176-turbine project that will provide enough power to power more than 600,000 homes. The project was scheduled to be completed next year.
Dominion said this large-scale project is essential to U.S. national security and Virginia’s dramatically increasing energy needs. Northern Virginia is the world’s largest data center hub. Increasing demand due to artificial intelligence has led to soaring power prices in the state.
“An extended outage of CVOW would threaten grid reliability for some of the nation’s most critical combat, AI, and civilian assets,” Dominion said in a statement.
“It will also lead to energy inflation and threaten thousands of jobs,” the utility said.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) supports the project. Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger won the November gubernatorial election on a promise to combat rising power costs by expanding renewable energy.
The Interior Department said in a statement that the moratorium gives the federal government time to “work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the potential to reduce the national security risks posed by these projects.”
Mr. Interior said the U.S. government had found that the turbine blades and “highly reflective towers” created a risk of radar interference.
“The clutter caused by offshore wind projects masks legitimate moving targets and generates false targets near wind projects,” Interior said.
President Donald Trump has targeted the U.S. wind power industry since his first day in office. President Trump on January 20 ordered a halt to all new leases and permits for onshore and offshore wind power pending federal review.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y.) denounced President Trump’s campaign against wind energy projects as “irrational.” The Senate minority leader said Interior’s decision would cause energy bills to skyrocket.
“Mr. Trump’s obsession with canceling offshore wind projects is unbridled, irrational, and unwarranted,” Schumer said in a statement Monday. “At a time when energy costs are soaring, DOI’s latest decision is regressive and will only push energy prices even higher.”
President Trump’s campaign against the wind industry is colliding in court. Massachusetts District Court Judge Patti Sarris ruled on December 8 that President Trump’s order was “arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law.”
