Wind Energy – U.S.A.
A U.S. federal judge has invalidated former President Donald Trump’s nationwide moratorium on offshore wind activity, ruling that the administration acted unlawfully when it froze all leasing and permitting earlier this year.
In a decision issued on 20 January, U.S. District Judge Patti Saris found that the directive—an order that indefinitely paused all authorizations for offshore wind projects pending a sweeping review – was ‘arbitrary and capricious’ and violated multiple provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
The moratorium had effectively stalled the country’s offshore wind pipeline. Permitting activity slowed to a crawl, and several developers announced cancellations or significant delays, citing regulatory uncertainty created by the order.
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia challenged the freeze in court, arguing that the federal government lacked both justification and legal authority to halt the process without following required administrative procedures. Judge Saris concurred, writing that an open-ended suspension of all wind project approvals breaches the APA’s requirement that agencies resolve matters “within a reasonable time.”
The ruling drew swift praise from the offshore wind industry. Oceantic Network CEO Liz Burdock called the decision ‘welcome news’, emphasizing its implications for workers, manufacturers, and utilities across the country.
The ruling reinstates the federal government’s obligation to resume processing offshore wind applications – a step advocates say is essential to meeting U.S. clean energy and economic goals.
