Trump administration halts work on an almost-finished wind farm

Source: NPR

August 23, 2025 11:38 AM ET


The Trump administration has ordered companies to stop construction of a wind farm that's being built off the coast of Rhode Island.

The acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Matthew Giacona, wrote in a letter to one of the developers, a Danish firm called Ørsted, that the government was halting work on the almost-finished project in order to "address concerns related to the protection of national security interests of the United States." The project is also being developed by Global Infrastructure Partners.

The order to stop work on the Revolution Wind project is the latest move by the Trump administration targeting the country's renewable energy industry. President Trump, a longtime critic of the wind industry, in January issued a moratorium on new development of offshore wind projects. The Internal Revenue Service recently put out new guidance that makes it harder for companies building wind and solar projects to qualify for federal tax incentives. And the Commerce Department is investigating whether imports of wind turbines and their components threaten national security.

Ørsted said in a statement that it is "evaluating all options to resolve the matter expeditiously," including legal action. Revolution Wind is located in federal waters 15 miles south of Rhode Island. Construction started in 2023, and the project has been slated to begin sending power to homes and businesses in Rhode Island and Connecticut starting next year.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/08/23/nx-s1-5513919/trump-stops-offshore-wind-renewable-energy