By Avi Salzman

The Trump administration issued a stop work order to a major New York offshore wind project that was expected to provide enough electricity for 500,000 homes. The Empire Wind project had already received all of the necessary permits and had begun construction.

President Donald Trump has said several times that he doesn't like wind power, but this is the first big under-construction project he has stopped.

New York officials criticized the decision. "I will not allow this federal overreach to stand," said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in a statement. The project was expected to have 54 turbines and start producing power in 2027. It's a key part of New York's plan to move away from fossil fuels for electricity generation.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered the project to stop because he deemed the Biden administration's review inadequate, according to the Washington Free Beacon. The order says that the department obtained information that suggests "approval for the project was rushed through." The Interior Department didn't immediately respond to a request for more information.

The company building Empire Wind is Norwegian energy giant Equinor. The company said in a statement that it's trying to understand "the questions raised about the permits" and won't comment more until it clears up those issues. Equinor said that more than 1,500 employees have been working on the project, which includes work on a marine terminal in Brooklyn, N.Y. Its stock was down 1% in after-hours trading.

In an interview last month, Equinor CFO Torgrim Reitan told Barron's that he expected the project to go forward despite Trump's general opposition to offshore wind. His noted that there's a "very strong U.S. history in honoring existing contracts." He also said that the company's existing permits and investments gave him confidence. "We have already invested a significant amount of money," he said. "This is clearly a project well under way to be delivered."

Clean energy industry groups said the decision will hurt Trump's vision of American "energy dominance."

"Doubling back to reconsider permits after projects are under construction sends a chilling signal to all energy investment," said Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association.

While environmental groups such as the Sierra Club have been supportive of offshore wind projects as a way to move the nation away from dependence on fossil fuels, other groups have opposed them on environmental grounds, saying they threaten whales and other wildlife. Some Republicans have joined the cause. On Wednesday, Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican from New Jersey, celebrated Burgum's decision, writing on X that he had worked with the administration to expose the "faulty permitting process." The Trump administration previously pulled an air permit from a planned New Jersey offshore wind farm called Atlantic Shores. A 2023 report from Brown University's Climate and Development Lab said that opposition to offshore wind farms is backed heavily by fossil fuel interests.

Write to Avi Salzman at avi.salzman@barrons.com

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April 16, 2025 19:37 ET (23:37 GMT)

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