A civil lawsuit filed challenging the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) order directing a suspension to multiple large-scale offshore wind projects has led to a preliminary injunction.
Empire Offshore Wind LLC (Empire), one of five leases currently under construction off the Atlantic coast, filed the suit Jan. 2 in response to the DOI pausing multiple projects on Dec. 22, 2025, due to what they described as national security threats purportedly identified by the Department of Defense as referenced in classified reports.
On Tuesday, Jan. 6, legal counsel for Empire filed a motion for preliminary injunction and stay pending review and requested an expedited consideration by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia "given the immediate and irreparable harm caused by the suspension order."
"Without the ability to continue project construction by January 16, 2026, the project faces likely termination due to disruption of a tightly choreographed construction schedule dependent on vessels with constrained availability, delay costs, and the existential threat to the project financing caused by the suspension order," reads the motion, shared with Military.com.
Attorneys said the threat of project termination "became more acute" on Jan. 5 when the government took the position that certain ongoing construction activities deemed necessary by Empire Wind for safety reasons were prohibited. Counsel argue that the suspension order allows activities necessary to prevent impacts to health, safety or the environment.
"This development turned a dire situation for Empire Wind into a near terminal one, making immediate relief necessary," they wrote.
“The preliminary injunction filing is necessary to allow the project to continue as planned during this critical period of execution and avoid additional commercial and financing impacts that are likely to occur should the order remain effective,” they added.
A spokesperson for Empire referred Military.com to a press release and provided no additional comment.
The five projects currently suspended indefinitely are as follows:
- Vineyard Wind 1, off Massachusetts.
- Revolution Wind, off Connecticut and Rhode Island.
- Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.
- Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind, projects off New York.
A DOI spokesperson declined to comment to Military.com, saying they do not remark on litigation matters.
Energy Implications
“While Empire continues to work closely with Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the other relevant authorities to find a prompt resolution to the matter, the order is in Equinor’s view unlawful and threatens the progress of ongoing work with significant implications for the project,” Equinor, a multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, that is overseeing the project, said in a statement on Jan. 2.
Empire Wind is being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to deliver what they describe as “a critical new, near-term source of electricity for New York, bolstering grid reliability at a time of rapidly growing demand.”
Equinor said that project completion is slated to provide enough electricity to power approximately 500,000 homes in New York.
The project is already more than 60% complete, they added, deeming it “a significant investment in U.S. energy infrastructure, jobs, and supply chains.”
Equinor, a multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, has reportedly invested over $4 billion USD into the project, of which $2.7 billion USD has been drawn under project financing. The gross value of Empire Wind as of Sept. 30, 2025, was roughly $3.1 billion and includes the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.
The project off the New York coast is more than 60% complete and is “a significant investment in U.S. energy infrastructure, jobs, and supply chains.”
In terms of jobs, the company said that just the project’s construction phase has employed about 4,000 people to work, both within the lease area and through the revitalization of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.
A NYSERDA spokesperson told Military.com that it does not comment on pending litigation.
Following the Dec. 22 work stoppage order, NYSERDA reviewed the implications for its current projects that include Sunrise Wind—which they said are already providing thousands of good-paying jobs as part of a plan to provide clean, renewable energy to more than 1 million New York homes as soon as 2027.
DoD Regulations Already Exist
The pause instituted last month was done to protect Americans’ safety, according to a statement issued by DOI Secretary Doug Burgum.
“Today’s [Dec. 22, 2025] action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers,” Burgum said. “The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people.”
But Empire and other industry executives said the reasoning doesn’t compute.
National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Erik Milito, for example, said in a statement after the pause that the current DoD regulatory process already involves a “rigorous framework” for assessing national security implications.
That framework was assessed and passed DoD standards without issue, he added.
“The process, as required by law, provides a timely, transparent and repeatable process to evaluate potential impacts and mitigation options related to offshore energy compatibility,” Milito said. “The Department of Defense coordinates at every stage of planning, permitting, and development.”
This story was updated to reflect a new legal motion filed for preliminary injunction.
