U.S. Asks Judge to Reopen Permit for New England Wind Project

The Justice Department asked a federal judge on October 20 to send the federal permit for the New England Wind project off Massachusetts back to the Interior Department so the agency can reconsider its own 2024 approval, the Associated Press reported in the Boston Herald.

The filing said the construction and operations plan, cleared during the Biden administration, was approved despite major adverse impacts. It makes New England Wind the fourth offshore wind project targeted by the Trump administration in recent months. Interior also wants to revisit approvals for Revolution Wind, which serves Rhode Island and Connecticut and has finished construction, and the Maryland Offshore Wind Project.

The plans call for as many as 129 turbines and up to 2,600 megawatts, enough to power more than 900,000 homes a year. Construction has not started. Developer Avangrid declined to comment.

Interior said on October 21 that the filing followed a briefing schedule and did not signal a policy change.

The approval is being challenged in District Court for the District of Columbia by ACK for Whales, a group of Nantucket residents.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, said the move endangers a bipartisan Senate permitting bill reached in September that has not been voted on. "This is how you blow up a permitting deal," he said.

This story was first reported by Boston Herald.