A federal judge has lifted the stop-work order against one of the five offshore wind projects shut down by the Trump administration Dec. 22.

The Jan. 12 victory by Revolution Wind mirrored its September 2025 win in the same case, when the same judge lifted an earlier stop-work order issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (See Judge Lifts BOEM’s Stop-work Order on Revolution Wind.)

The joint venture of Skyborn Renewables and Ørsted is several months from completion and is designed to send 704 MW of power at peak output to Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Later Jan. 12, Ørsted said construction would resume immediately while the court proceedings continue on the Aug. 22 and Dec. 22 stop-work orders. It said it would continue to look for an expedited and durable resolution with the Trump administration.

In both rulings, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth — appointed to the federal bench by former President Ronald Reagan — wrote that Revolution likely was to suffer irreparable harm if the halt remained in place.

Some of the offshore wind developers are making a similar point, framing it as an existential threat.

The move is costing the five remaining U.S. projects millions of dollars a day and jeopardizing tightly orchestrated construction timelines. The specialized installation vessels needed for the projects are booked years in advance and the operators cannot adjust their schedules.

Notably, Empire Wind said in a Jan. 6 court filing that if it cannot resume work by Jan. 16, the project faces likely termination.

Likewise, Sunrise Wind said Jan. 9 that the stop-work order constitutes an enterprise-level threat that is inflicting irreparable harm that will compound if the court does not issue a preliminary injunction by the week of Feb. 1.

The five U.S. projects are in various stages of construction. Some were only a few months from completion when the U.S. Department of the Interior issued a 90-day stop-work order Dec. 22, citing national security. Interior claims some of the reasons are classified secrets and is not making them public or sharing them with the wind developers.

The court fights are the culmination of President Donald Trump’s longstanding dislike of wind power and of the efforts by him and his administration to thwart it starting on Day 1 of his second term. (See All U.S. Offshore Wind Construction Halted and Offshore Wind Developers Fight to get Back in the Water.)

When the nascent U.S. offshore wind sector peaked in the early 2020s, more than a dozen projects were in the pipeline and President Joe Biden set a national goal of 30 GW by 2030. But the grand vision began to fade well before the 2024 presidential election, due to cost, logistical and supply chain challenges.

Since then, Trump’s stance and the risks raised by his policy changes have scared off investors. Further construction appears unlikely any time soon beyond the five existing projects, which total just 5.8 GW of nameplate capacity.

Revolution initiated its court fight Sept. 4. The attorneys general of Connecticut and Rhode Island subsequently joined in.

Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) developer Dominion Energy sought a preliminary injunction Dec. 23. It is fighting the Department of Defense’s attempts to withhold the secret reasons for the stop-work order.

Empire developer Equinor challenged the suspension Jan. 2.

Ørsted filed a complaint over Sunrise on Jan. 6 and motioned for a preliminary injunction Jan. 9.

The attorney general of New York, where power would flow from Empire and Sunrise, filed complaints for declaratory and injunctive relief Jan. 9.

All the proceedings were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia except for CVOW, which was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners have not announced a response to the suspension of Vineyard Wind 1, which is in late stages of construction and already generating power with some of its turbines.

Meanwhile, offshore wind opponents are not resting while all this continues.

ACK For Whales, a coastal Massachusetts 501(c)(3) formed to oppose offshore wind, filed its latest lawsuit Jan. 9 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Interior. It seeks to overturn regulatory approval of Vineyard Wind 1 on the grounds that it was unlawful.

The Oceantic Network cheered Revolution’s Jan. 12 court win: “The U.S. offshore wind industry has always worked closely with the federal government to ensure national security interests were prioritized in the siting and permitting of every project in federal waters. Oceantic applauds this result to get the project moving again to deliver reliable, affordable power to communities across New England that desperately need it.”

ISO-NE has said Revolution’s expected output already is part of its capacity calculations. (See ISO-NE Warns Halting Revolution Wind Boosts Reliability Risk.)