Hochul, Guvs From CT, MA, And RI, Demand Burgam Lift 'Stop Work Order' On 5 Halted Wind Farm Projects: Letter

ALBANY, NY — The governors of New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts have written a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum demanding he lift a "stop work order" placed Monday on five offshore wind projects, including Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind off Long Island, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office said Wednesday night.

Other paused leases reportedly include Ørsted's other project, Revolution Wind in Rhode Island, as well as Vineyard Wind project in Massachusetts, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.

Hochul was joined by Massachusetts' Gov. Maura Healey, Connecticut's Gov. Ned Lamont, and Rhode Island's Gov. Dan McKee.

The governors demanded a classified briefing to review "the unexplained national security threats used to place the 'stop work orders,'" according to a news release posted on Hochul's website.

The letter notes the "targeted projects" were approved after undergoing substantial federal reviews and processes, including by the U.S. Department of Defense, and the governors "blast the national security claims and supposed concerns about the impacts offshore wind farms have on radar as pretexts that contradict years of reviews and established practices," according to the news release.

The four charge the administration of President Donald Trump is rationalizing a “pretexual excuse to justify a predetermined outcome consistent with the president’s frequently stated personal opposition to offshore wind."

The letter states they reject "the transparent pretext and demand the immediate rescission of these suspensions for three reasons," including "true national security is energy security," “classified” pretexts contradict science and years of public vetting," and accuses Burgam of "disguising" his delay.

The letter tells Burgum that by putting a stop to “gigawatts of domestic clean energy and killing thousands of jobs," he is "forcing reliance on foreign energy markets and volatile supply chains."

Patch has reached out to the White House's press office for comment.

On Tuesday, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said the president "has been clear: wind energy is the scam of the century."

"For years, Americans have been forced to pay billions more for the least reliable source of energy," she added. "The Trump administration has paused the construction of all large-scale offshore wind projects because our number one priority is to put America first and protect the national security of the American people.”

In a post to Twitter, Burgum said that "due to national security concerns identified by the Department of War," his department is pausing the leases "for five expensive, unreliable, heavily-subsidized offshore wind farms," adding that "one natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these five projects combined."

He went on to say that the president is "bringing common sense back to energy policy and putting security first."

Earlier this week, Hochul's office said New York is weighing its options following the federal government's pause on the leases.

Sunrise Wind's developer, the Denmark-based Ørsted, told Patch it was informed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management "to suspend all ongoing activities on the outer continental shelf" over the next 90 days, something the agency can extend.

The lease for Sunrise Wind was paused due to unspecified national security risks, which were identified by the Pentagon, News 12 reported.

The move will afford the Interior Department, which oversees offshore wind projects, the time to work with the Defense Department, as well as other agencies, to assess security risk mitigation, the outlet reported.

Hochul on Tuesday was joined with her three colleagues to condemn the pause by Trump's administration, by releasing a joint statement.

The states previously sued the federal government on paused leases, and a judge earlier this month reportedly allowed the projects to move forward.

Last week, Sunrise Wind, which was approved in 2024, was on track for completion in the second half of 2027, Ørsted spokeswoman Meaghan Wims previously said.

The project's construction is roughly 40 percent complete, with 44 of 84 turbine foundations and its offshore substation installed, Wims said, citing Ørsted 's last earning's report.

Once complete, the project is set to power nearly 600,000 homes in New York.

Hochul has said that Sunrise Wind, along with Empire Wind, can power one million homes.

When asked if the states could pursue legal action again, Hochul's aide, Ken Lovett, a senior communications advisor on energy and environment, told Patch: "We are working with the other states and reviewing all our options."

In a similar statement on Monday, Ørsted's management said they are evaluating all their options for a resolution, which includes engagement with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and other permitting agencies, as well as the evaluation of potential legal proceedings.

Wims declined further comment beyond the statement.

In their statement, Hochul and her colleagues called the pause "the latest egregious attack on clean energy, and it lands like a lump of dirty coal for the holiday season for American workers, consumers, and investors."

"Pausing active leases, especially for completed and nearly completed projects, defies logic, will hurt our bid for energy independence, will drive up costs for American ratepayers, and will make us lose thousands of good-paying jobs," they stated. "It also threatens grid reliability that is needed to keep the lights on."

“Atlantic states are working hard to build more energy to meet rising demand and lower costs," they stated. "Already, these projects have created thousands of jobs and injected billions in economic activity into our communities."

“This baseless, reckless, and erratic action from the Department of Interior will also inject further uncertainty into the markets, making it harder for states and private companies to secure financing for public works projects if investors know they can be stopped at any time despite having gone through all the necessary local and federal approval processes," the statement continued.

“A federal judge earlier this month ruled the Trump administration cannot simply halt federal approvals of offshore wind permits arbitrarily. We are committed as governors to again fight back to ensure these projects move forward and provide power, jobs, and grid reliability to our communities," the statement concluded.

Ørsted said staffers are complying with the order and "are taking appropriate steps to suspend related activities in a manner that prevents impacts on health, safety, and the environment."

The developers described both of their projects as being in "an advanced stage of construction" and that they "will be ready to deliver reliable, affordable power to homes in 2026."

Their statement went on to explain how the project is "fully permitted, having secured all required federal and state permits following comprehensive, years-long reviews."

As a requirement of the permitting process, they consulted closely and directly with the U.S Department of Defense's Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Siting Clearinghouse to evaluate and address potential impacts to national security and defense capabilities from construction and operation of the Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects," the statement said.

Sunrise Wind has a 25-year power purchase agreement to deliver 924-megawatts to New York, and together with Revolution Wind, can power around one million homes across the three states of New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, according to Ørsted.

So far, Ørsted has invested in American energy generation, grid upgrades, port infrastructure, and a supply chain, including U.S. shipbuilding and manufacturing, extending to more than 40 states, the developer said.

Its two projects employ hundreds of local union workers supporting construction activities, their statement says, and the offshore wind projects have totaled around 4 million labor union hours to date, according to the developers.

The halt of the Long Island projects also drew the ire of environmental groups that support wind farms as a clean energy source.

The Long Island-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment posted a photo of Dr. Seuss' Grinch tiptoeing across a wind farm field, while lambasting Trump for "recklessly" halting the five leases for the projects under construction.

"Two projects are nearly completed off Long Island: Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind 1. These projects would power over a 1 [million] homes, employ [New Yorkers] and bring billions in benefits to communities," the post read.

This is story will be updated. Check back tomorrow.