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Vineyard Wind resumes full activities; Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren applaud court decision
After two other projects secured relief in the courts, Vineyard Wind on Tuesday also won a decision allowing it to resume “full activities” at its offshore wind power project south of Nantucket.
U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts stayed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Dec. 22 project suspension order, which Vineyard Wind challenged on Jan. 15.
“As the legal process proceeds, Vineyard Wind will continue to work with the Administration to understand the matters raised in the Order,” Vineyard Wind said in a statement. “Vineyard Wind will focus on working in coordination with its contractors, the federal government, and other relevant stakeholders and authorities to safely restart activities, as it continues to deliver a critical source of new power to the New England region.”
Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren applauded the court decision, calling it “an important step in the process to fight back against the Trump administration’s lawless attacks against our union jobs, grid security, and energy affordability,” the senators said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Equinor secured court approval to resume construction on its Empire Wind project off Long Island, N.Y. and a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the stop work order for Revolution Wind, the wind farm slated to power homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Concerns about radar interference and unspecified national security risks were behind a December order from the federal government freezing large-scale offshore wind projects under construction off the U.S. coast.
The federal government on Dec. 22 told Vineyard Wind it could continue generating power despite the pause, according to a letter from Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Matthew Giacona.
Vineyard Wind has released only limited information about progress on its commercial-scale project but said in December that it had achieved enough capacity to deliver 400 megawatts of power.
