Trump-led Justice Department and offshore wind foes align over Dominion legal battle schedule

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) joined offshore wind opponents in seeking time for the “new leadership” of key federal bodies to mull their next move in court action targeting the largest project currently under construction in American waters.

The motion, which was granted, allows federal officials more opportunity to assess the case against Dominion Energy’s mammoth offshore wind array in light of the administration's energy priorities, potentially signaling a new front in President Donald Trump's war on the industry.

Conservative groups Heartland Institute and Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) originally filed suit against the government last March in federal District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, DC, over its approval of Dominion Energy’s 2.6GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW).

Plaintiffs allege CVOW's environmental review fails to account for cumulative impacts of widescale offshore wind development off the East Coast on the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

With the 45-day stay in proceedings, plaintiffs now have until 23 April to respond to requests for summary judgement on the case.

While US offshore wind projects have faced multiple courtroom challenges, Trump’s executive order (EO) on wind power has weighted the scales against the industry.

It not only bans offshore wind leasing and permitting and puts approved capacity up for further review, in the case of a lawsuit, empowers the DoJ to “request that the court stay the litigation or otherwise delay further litigation, or seek other appropriate relief consistent with this order.”

In the motion, DoJ and plaintiffs said that key regulators National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) “are under new leadership, who require time to become familiar with the issues presented by this litigation and the Presidential Memorandum and to determine how they wish to proceed.”

Enlargement of the briefing schedule will ensure “that any briefing presented by Federal Defendants to this Court will reflect the views of current agency leadership,” the motion added.

Timothy Fox, managing director of consultancy ClearView Energy, said “this language expressly states that the Trump administration has not foreclosed the possibility of agreeing with petitioners.”

CVOW is the nation’s largest and among its most advanced offshore wind arrays, with 78 monopiles already installed in the lease area some 27 miles (43 km) off the coast of Virginia Beach, with several transition pieces installed and subsea cables laid.

Dominion has already spent more than half of its $10.7bn budget and aims to complete all 176 Siemens Games 14MW turbines by next year.

This latest move by Trump expands the risk spectrum for US offshore wind that, while it had long expected Trump's ban on new leasing and permitting, had thought the 19GW approved under former President Joe Biden would safely to go forward.

Trump's EO now puts even this capacity under additional review and as virtually all projects have attracted litigation, they are vulnerable to a feeble defence by the DoJ under a president that has long put the industry in his crosshairs.

Legal experts said after the EO was published that requests to stay or delay litigation could follow.

Law firm Perkins Coie said in a briefing: "There are cases currently pending against [The Department of Interior] and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that are challenging the approval of certain wind projects.

“This directive implicitly encourages the DoJ to submit the Memorandum to the relevant district or circuit court to request either a stay or a delay in those cases. Delays will once again increase uncertainty for the projects, developers, and investors.”

Dominion confident

Stopping CVOW “would be a significant demonstration of [Trump's] opposition to offshore wind,” said Fox.

CEO Bob Blue remained confident on the recent earnings call, noting that Dominion’s service territory includes the world’s largest concentration of data centres in Northern Virginia where AI-driven power demand is set to skyrocket.

CVOW “helps promote American energy dominance” and is “critical to continuing US superiority in AI and technology.”

Blue added that Trump’s Interior secretary Doug Burgum said during his confirmation hearing that offshore wind projects “that make sense and are already in law will continue, and CVOW definitely fits that bill.”

The project's importance to helping Dominion meet surging demand may pause Trump’s hostility.

“You don't want to be the president who stopped a project that could have prevented a grid outage, or a grid disruption, or higher rates,” said Fox.