Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong sued the Trump administration on September 4, 2025, for unlawfully blocking completion of Revolution Wind, a huge offshore wind electricity project off the coast of both states.  

The wind facility is projected to supply 2.5% of the total electricity needs for the region, reducing both costs to residents and greenhouse gas emissions at the same time. Both Rhode Island and Connecticut have invested millions of taxpayer dollars into the project, which has created thousands of well-paying union jobs. When completed, Revolution Wind is expected to contribute millions to the states’ GDPs.  

After nine years of federal agency review, including a 2,800-page environmental assessment, all necessary permits had been issued by the federal government, and construction began on the project in 2023. Today, the development is approximately 80% completed and on track to be online in 2026. However, on August 22, 2025, the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) issued a stop work order, without identifying any law, threat, or judicial order to justify this drastic step. Instead, the order cited “concerns” with the project.  

Neither the Administrative Procedure Act, nor the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which grants the BOEM authority to regulate offshore wind activities, allows the agency to act in such an arbitrary and capricious way. Rhode Island and Connecticut sued to vindicate their rights and protect the interests of their residents. The states asked the court to rule the administration’s actions unlawful and to set aside the stop work order.

With Revolution Wind, we have an opportunity to create good-paying jobs for Rhode Islanders, enhance energy reliability, and ensure energy cost savings while protecting our environment. And yet, this stop work order is not even the latest development in this Administration’s all-out assault on wind energy. Just yesterday, we learned of reports that the Administration is pulling in staff from several different unrelated federal agencies, including Health and Human Services, to do its bidding. Does this sound like a federal government that is prioritizing the American people? This is bizarre, this is unlawful, this is potentially devastating, and we won’t stand by and watch it happen. Attorney General Peter Neronha