Largest U.S. offshore wind development put on hold
The Trump administration has ordered a halt to Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, the largest offshore wind project in the United States, along with four additional developments under construction along the East Coast. The decision represents a major setback for the U.S. wind industry and immediately weighed on energy stocks.
Shares of :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}, the developer of the Virginia project, fell nearly 4% following the announcement. European energy companies were also hit, with Denmark-based :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1} and Norway’s :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2} seeing sharp declines.
Projects affected and power capacity at stake
In addition to the Virginia project, federal authorities paused leases for Vineyard Wind 1 in Massachusetts, Revolution Wind near Rhode Island, Sunrise Wind off Long Island, and Empire Wind 1 south of Long Island. Together, these projects were expected to generate enough electricity to supply more than two million homes, according to developers.
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind alone consists of 176 turbines and was scheduled to be completed next year. Dominion has argued that the project is critical to meeting rapidly rising electricity demand in Virginia, particularly in Northern Virginia, which has become the world’s largest hub for data centers driven by artificial intelligence workloads.
National security concerns cited by Interior
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the administration paused the projects after the Pentagon raised national security concerns. According to the Interior Department, turbine blades and highly reflective towers could interfere with radar systems by obscuring legitimate targets or generating false signals.
The pause, officials said, will allow federal agencies to work with developers and state authorities to assess whether these risks can be mitigated without permanently canceling the projects.
Political backlash and economic implications
The decision has drawn sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers. Senate Minority Leader warned that blocking offshore wind would ultimately push energy prices higher at a time when households are already facing rising electricity bills.
President has opposed wind energy since returning to office, ordering a freeze on new onshore and offshore wind permits pending federal review. That stance has already faced legal challenges, with a federal judge in Massachusetts previously ruling that a similar executive action was unlawful.
