The action affects five large offshore wind projects under construction and builds on a broader Trump administration review of federal wind policy.
The Trump administration has halted construction across the U.S. offshore wind sector, pausing leases for all five major projects under construction after the Pentagon found that turbine structures could interfere with critical military radar systems.
The Department of the Interior said the move followed warnings from the Department of War that the rotating turbine blades and highly reflective towers used in large-scale offshore wind farms can interfere with military radar systems, potentially obscuring real targets or generating false signals.
The pause will allow federal agencies “time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects,” the Interior Department said in a statement.
The action covers all five large offshore wind projects currently under construction, including GE Vernova’s Vineyard Wind 1, Danish energy company Orsted’s Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind, Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind–Commercial, and Equinor’s Empire Wind 1.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a Dec. 22 social media post that the five paused projects were “expensive, unreliable, heavily subsidized.”
“ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED.” he wrote, adding that President Donald Trump “is bringing common sense back to energy policy & putting security FIRST!”
Burgum told Fox News in a Dec. 22 interview that leaseholders were being formally notified on Monday that construction leases were being suspended.
“The Department of War has come back conclusively that the issues related to these large offshore wind programs … create radar interference that creates genuine risk for the U.S., particularly related to where they are in proximity to our East Coast population centers,” he said.
The lease suspensions build on a series of actions taken this year by the administration to rein in offshore wind development. In August, the Interior Department launched a comprehensive review of offshore wind regulations, citing concerns about national security, environmental impacts, and what it described as preferential treatment for “unreliable, foreign-controlled energy sources over dependable, American-made energy.”
That review, led by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, paused new offshore wind approvals while the department reassessed offshore wind energy projects and their impact on the economy, environment, and national security.
By Tom Ozimek
