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Press Release:

AG Tong Files for Pre­lim­i­nary Injunc­tion to Imme­di­ate­ly Halt Rev­o­lu­tion Wind Stop Work Order

Preceding Event:

Accord­ing to Orsted, the com­pa­ny in charge of the Rev­o­lu­tion Wind project, “On 22 August 2025, Ørsted’s sub­sidiary Rev­o­lu­tion Wind LLC, a 50/50 joint ven­ture with Glob­al Infra­struc­ture Partner’s Sky­born Renew­ables, received an order instruct­ing the project to stop activ­i­ties on the out­er con­ti­nen­tal shelf relat­ed to the Rev­o­lu­tion Wind project from the US Depart­ment of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Ener­gy Man­age­ment. Rev­o­lu­tion Wind is com­ply­ing with the order and is tak­ing appro­pri­ate steps to stop off­shore activ­i­ties, ensur­ing the safe­ty of work­ers and the envi­ron­ment.”

The order says the bureau needs “to allow time for it to address con­cerns that have arisen dur­ing the review that the Depart­ment is under­tak­ing pur­suant to the President’s Mem­o­ran­dum of Jan­u­ary 20, 2025.”

General Overview:

Accord­ing to press the release from Sept. 17, 2025, “Con­necti­cut Attor­ney Gen­er­al William Tong and Rhode Island Attor­ney Gen­er­al Peter Neron­ha announced they are seek­ing a pre­lim­i­nary injunc­tion to imme­di­ate­ly block the base­less stop work order abrupt­ly issued on August 22 halt­ing con­struc­tion of Rev­o­lu­tion Wind.

The com­plaint, filed against the Depart­ment of the Inte­ri­or, the Bureau of Ocean Ener­gy Man­age­ment and their appoint­ed lead­ers alleges that such arbi­trary and capri­cious gov­ern­ment con­duct vio­lates both the Admin­is­tra­tive Pro­ce­dure Act and the government’s author­i­ty under the Out­er Con­ti­nen­tal Shelf Lands Act.”

Connecticut Nexus:

Accord­ing to the press release, the stop work order “is caus­ing both imme­di­ate and irrepara­ble eco­nom­ic and envi­ron­men­tal harm to the State of Con­necti­cut, includ­ing lost jobs, wast­ed state resources, reduced future grid reli­a­bil­i­ty, high­er elec­tric rates, more air pol­lu­tion and more green­house gas emis­sions.”

Rev­o­lu­tion Wind was expect­ed to meet about 25% of New Eng­land’s elec­tric­i­ty needs and pro­vide about 1,200 jobs in Con­necti­cut and Rhode Island, accord­ing to the law­suit.

Date:

Sept. 17, 2025

Case #:

1:25-cv-00439

Case title:

State of Rhode Island et al v. Unit­ed States Depart­ment of Inte­ri­or et al

Plaintiffs:* 2 states

• STATE OF RHODE ISLAND;
• STATE OF CONNECTICUT;
• KATHERINE DYKES, Com­mis­sion­er of the Con­necti­cut Depart­ment of Ener­gy and Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion

Defendants:

• UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR;
• DOUGLAS BURGUM, Sec­re­tary of the Inte­ri­or, in his offi­cial capac­i­ty;
• BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT;
• MATTHEW GIACONA, Act­ing Direc­tor of Bureau of Ocean Ener­gy Man­age­ment, in his offi­cial capac­i­ty;
• BUREAU OF SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT;
• and KENNETH STEVENS, Prin­ci­pal Deputy Direc­tor of the Bureau of Safe­ty and Envi­ron­men­tal Enforce­ment, in his offi­cial capac­i­ty

Court:

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND

Status as of Dec. 1, 2025:

OPEN
Last fil­ing Nov. 10, 2025

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