The Trump administration has suspended leases for five large offshore wind projects that are under construction off the US East Coast over what it called national security concerns, sending shares of offshore wind companies plunging.
The suspension was the latest blow for offshore wind developers that have faced repeated disruptions to their multi-billion-dollar projects under US President Donald Trump, who has said he finds wind turbines ugly, costly and inefficient.
State officials, Democratic lawmakers, offshore wind companies, and industry trade groups slammed the move as unjustified.
The US Department of the Interior said the decision was the result of complaints by the Pentagon that the movement of huge turbine blades for offshore wind projects, as well as the highly reflective towers that hold them up, cause radar interference that can make it hard to identify and locate security threats.
The pause will give relevant federal agencies "time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects," the department said in a statement.
"The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people," Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in the statement.
The pause will affect Danish energy firm Orsted's Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects, Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners' Vineyard Wind 1 project, Dominion Energy's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, and Equinor's Empire Wind 1 project, according to the statement.
Shares in Orsted traded down more than 12%, with Dominion and Equinor also trading lower.
Dominion said the suspension will threaten grid reliability for its Virginia customers, including military bases and data centers powering artificial intelligence.
"These electrons will power the datacenters that will win the AI race, support our war fighters, and build the nuclear warships needed to maintain our maritime supremacy," the company said.
Orsted said its projects were in advanced stages and had been preparing to power around 1 million homes across three states from next year.
"Orsted is evaluating all options to resolve the matter expeditiously, together with its partners," the company said.
Equinor said it was also evaluating the suspension. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners was not immediately available for comment.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in separate statements that states affected by the freeze were reviewing their options.
"The Trump administration will look for any excuse to continue its assault on clean energy - and the thousands of good-paying jobs these projects bring - but there is no credible justification for this stoppage," Hochul said.
The National Ocean Industries Association, a trade group representing offshore wind developers, urged the administration to end the pause quickly, pointing out that the Pentagon had been involved in approving the projects under past administrations.
"The regulatory process involves a rigorous framework for assessing the national security implications of proposed projects, and every project under construction has already undergone review by the Department of Defense with no objections," NOIA President Erik Milito said.
The top Democrats leading the Senate's environment and energy committees said they would not back a bipartisan permitting reform effort in 2026 unless the administration backs off the offshore wind halt.
"The illegal attacks on fully permitted renewable energy projects must be reversed if there is to be any chance that permitting talks resume," said Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich in a joint statement.
TRUMP'S ANTI-WIND INDUSTRY STANCE
In August, the administration had ordered Orsted to halt already advanced construction on the Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island, though a federal judge later lifted the ban.
Earlier in the year, the administration lifted a stop-work order on Equinor's Empire Wind in a compromise with New York state that paved the way for a natural gas pipeline Trump supports.
Trump campaigned for the White House on a promise to end the offshore wind industry - saying "windmills" are too expensive and hurt whales and birds - while promoting oil and gas.
The uncertainty has taken a financial toll on developers. Orsted raised $9.4 billion earlier this year to help fund US projects after potential partners were deterred by Trump's hostility to wind power.
Interior Secretary Burgum has previously said the administration is concerned that offshore wind installations can make the US more vulnerable to attacks by swarms of drones.
