On December 22nd, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) ordered all five offshore wind (OSW) projects under construction along the U.S. East Coast to halt work for 90 days so the Department of Interior (DOI) and Department of War (DOW) could confer with the project developers as to whether the national security threats reportedly posed by these projects could be "adequately mitigated." The order stated, "In November 2025, DOW completed an additional assessment regarding the national security implications of OSW projects and provided senior leadership at DOI with new classified information, including the rapid evolution of relevant adversary technologies and the resulting direct impacts to national security from OSW projects."

The developers (Avangrid, Ørsted, Equinor, Dominion) quickly filed for a court injunction to allow them to get back to work, citing "irreparable," "existential," "imminent" financial harm. Four federal judges granted relief, allowing construction on all five projects to resume.

After reading the classified documents provided them, the common consensus among the judges was that the security risks cited by DOW were more related to the operation rather than construction of the projects. Thus, they decided to allow construction to proceed, primarily because of the financial harm developers were suffering.

It was informative to listen in real time to the Revolution, Vineyard, and Sunrise court proceedings, during which dial-in audio access was provided. Through court records and media reporting, I gleaned the upshot of the Empire and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind hearings. All were pretty much a replay of the first-heard Revolution petition, apart from last-heard Sunrise. Interestingly, Senior Judge Royce C. Lamberth for the District of Columbia presided over Revolution and Sunrise, both owned by Ørsted and (along with Vineyard) the projects currently under construction off southern MA/RI. 

What made the Sunrise hearing especially interesting was the government's repeated offer to have Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment Dale R. Markspersonally provide Judge Lamberth additional classified information. Judge Lamberth dismissed this offer, so eager was he to allow Sunrise to proceed with construction.

It does not require special security clearance to read about the many ways wind turbines of the height and density off our coastline will interfere with mariner and early detection radar, airport surveillance radar, underwater sonar detection systems, and search and rescue operations. Drone swarming above and under the water and autonomous submarines armed with torpedoes or cruise missiles small enough to hide, perhaps vertically, among a forest of 30' diameter monopiles are no longer the stuff of science fiction. 

Yet four federal judges have decided to build out first and if possible "mitigate" later. Should these life and death threats not be resolved, the furthered states of construction will exponentially add costs to U.S. taxpayers and to the Ocean, herself.

Why are we in coastal southern New England being hung out to dry by our federal and state governments? Do federal judges and our political and military "leaders" care more about the finances of the OSW industry and their own career advancement than us?

Constance Gee

Westport

Gee is the founder of Protect Our Westport Waters (POWW!) and the Westport Offshore Wind Advisory Committee.