Attorney General Tong Notifies Court of Unlawful Revolution Wind Stop Work Order

Press Releases

08/29/2025

Attorney General Tong Notifies Court of Unlawful Revolution Wind Stop Work Order

Submits evidence of harm to Connecticut ratepayers, grid reliability and jobs ahead of 9/4 hearing on challenge to Trump executive order halting wind development

(Hartford, CT) -- Attorney General William Tong on Thursday night formally notified the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts of the stop work order halting the Revolution Wind project and the severe harm to Connecticut ratepayers, grid reliability, and jobs caused by stopping this fully-permitted and nearly complete project. The notice was filed in the ongoing challenge to the Trump Administration’s unlawful wind executive order. On September 4, the court will hear a motion for summary judgment where Attorney General Tong and 18 other attorneys general have sought to block Trump’s unlawful effort to freeze development of wind energy.

“We’ve got billions of dollars in investment and a project on the finish line to deliver affordable, American-made, renewable energy right off the coast of Connecticut. There are more than 1,000 jobs on the line. We’re notifying the court now that Trump’s irrational stop to Revolution Wind will jack up energy bills, hurt workers, and weaken our grid,” said Attorney General Tong.

“At a time when we’re working to lower utility costs in our state and strengthen our economy, this decision by the federal government will increase electricity costs and risk countless jobs. Connecticut has made critical investments in renewable energy in an effort to diversify our energy supply and lower prices for families and businesses. Even more frustrating, this project was 80% compete and set to be finished next year. We will do everything we can to save this project because it represents exactly the kind of investment that reduces energy costs, strengthens regional production, and builds a more secure energy future," said Governor Ned Lamont.

On January 20, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum that, among other things, indefinitely halted all federal approvals necessary for the development of offshore and onshore wind energy projects pending federal review. Pursuant to this directive, federal agencies stopped all permitting and approval activities, and issued a Stop Work Order to the fully permitted Empire Wind project that was already under construction in New York. That project has since resumed.

Attorney General Tong and the attorneys general of New York, Massachusetts, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington sued on May 5. The complaint asked the court to declare the President’s wind directive illegal and to prevent the administration from taking any action pursuant to it to delay or prevent wind energy development.

The complaint alleges that the President’s directive and federal agencies’ subsequent implementation of it violate the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal laws because they, among other things, provide no reasoned explanation for categorically and indefinitely halting all wind energy development—a sudden change that reverses longstanding federal policy.

On August 22, on the same day a briefing period closed in that pending litigation, the Trump Administration issued a new indefinite stop work order for Revolution Wind, which is fully permitted and 80 percent constructed, citing undefined environmental and national security concerns.

The project has received all its required federal and state permits, including receiving final approval of its Construction and Operations Plan from the federal Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management on November 20, 2023. In total, Revolution Wind went through nine years of reviews across multiple federal administrations. The project began offshore construction in 2024 and has been on track to reach commercial operation and begin delivering power and renewable energy certificates to Connecticut, Rhode Island, and the New England regional grid in the second half of 2026.

Connecticut’s declaration from Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes, states that Revolution Wind contracts are estimated to save Connecticut ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars over 20 years due to fixed contract prices lower than the average projected cost of energy and renewable energy certificates. The declaration further underscores the importance of offshore wind for regional grid reliability, particularly during winter months when the New England grid is facing its greatest challenges.

Revolution Wind supports approximately 1,200 jobs in Connecticut and Rhode Island alone, including more than 100 jobs at the State Pier in New London. The project is further supporting hundreds more jobs in other parts of the country, the declaration states. A recent study by the Connecticut Wind Collaborative found that at least 50 Connecticut companies are working on offshore wind and associated port development.

Click here to view the full declaration.

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