Revolution Wind Survived Two Stop-Work Orders. US Offshore Wind Has Not Survived the Policy Risk
On September 18, 2026, the developers of Revolution Wind confirmed that the 65th and final turbine had been installed at the project, about 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast. The 704-megawatt wind farm, a 50/50 joint venture between Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables, a Global Infrastructure Partners company, has been delivering power to Rhode Island and Connecticut at partial output since March and is expected to reach full capacity later this year. Canary Media puts the project's cost at USD 6.2 billion.
It will sell power under fixed-price, 20-year contracts with utilities in the two states and, according to Ørsted, supply more than 350,000 homes and businesses. The Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a stop-work order against Revolution Wind on August 22, 2025, citing unspecified national security concerns, when the project was about 80 percent complete. When Judge Royce Lamberth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia granted Revolution Wind a preliminary injunction on September 22, 2025, he found that the developers faced irreparable harm.
The administration argued in court that BOEM's approval had required the developer to continue working with the Defense Department on national security issues, and that those concerns had not been resolved. Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection estimated, according to Ørsted, that Revolution Wind could save New England ratepayers up to USD 500 million a year in wholesale energy costs once fully operational. The administration has moved from trying to stop projects to offering refunds to developers that give up their offshore leases, with nearly USD 4 billion committed so far, according to Canary Media.
The states should also preserve what they can of the offshore wind supply chain, including port investments and vessel contracts, so that development can resume if federal policy changes. Ørsted says it is investing nearly USD 700 million in US shipbuilding and vessel contracts across its projects. Revolution Wind's completion shows that offshore wind can be built in the United States and that it delivers valuable power when the Northeast needs it most. Ground News, which aggregates ratings from AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check, classes the outlets covering this story as 60% left-leaning, 40% center and 0% right-leaning (3 sources, 2 sources and 0 sources respectively, excluding outlets without a bias rating).