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BOSTON — Vineyard Wind can now ship out its final turbine.
The project won a preliminary stay from a federal judge on Tuesday, allowing it to resume construction after a federal suspension order abruptly halted it last month.
The ruling deals another blow to the Trump administration, which is now 0 for 4 in court battles over five suspended offshore wind projects from Massachusetts to Virginia, all of which have sued.
Judge Brian E. Murphy, a Joe Biden appointee, ruled from the bench after taking a brief recess following an hour of arguments from Vineyard Wind, the state, a union labor organization, and the Justice Department.
He found Vineyard Wind was likely to suffer irreparable harm, and said the federal government failed to explain what he called a “disconnect” between its position that offshore wind farm operations threaten national security, and its decision to allow Vineyard Wind to continue operating its installed turbines.
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Murphy reviewed classified materials provided by the federal government before granting Vineyard Wind’s request to temporarily lift the suspension pending the final outcome of the case. The federal government halted construction on Dec. 22 and said the suspension would last 90 days with the option to extend.
Vineyard Wind argued that the suspension order violates the law and would cause irreparable harm if not lifted. Massachusetts, which filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit, said the suspension has already harmed electricity ratepayers, and will do so as long as the project is barred from finishing installation and achieving full power.
“Vineyard Wind really did not want to be here,” the project’s attorney, Jack Pirozzolo, told Murphy. “It’s not an accident that we were the last of the projects to actually file the lawsuit, and that’s because … we tried very, very hard to work” with the government to continue construction under the order.
Vineyard Wind can now install the last of 62 turbine towers and add blades to 10 unfinished turbines.
Attorneys The Light spoke with after the ruling said a stay has the same practical effect as a preliminary injunction. Murphy noted it must meet the same factors, including that the plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits of their argument and suffer irreparable harm without relief, and that it would be in the public interest.
The White House blasted the ruling. “President Trump has been clear: wind energy is the scam of the century,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers wrote in an email to The Light. “For years, Americans have been forced to pay billions more for the least reliable source of energy. The Trump administration has paused the construction of all large-scale offshore wind projects because our number one priority is to put America First and protect the national security of the American people. The Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”
Vineyard Wind struck a conciliatory tone in a statement sent to The Light after the ruling.
“As the legal process proceeds, Vineyard Wind will continue to work with the administration to understand the matters raised in the order,” spokesperson Craig Gilvarg wrote. He said Vineyard Wind would work with the federal government and others to “safely restart activities, as it continues to deliver a critical source of new power to the New England region.”
The Interior Department and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management have cited “national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports” as reasons for the project suspensions. Interior asserts the radar interference created by wind arrays is a threat, and that the new classified report regards the “rapid evolution of relevant adversary technologies.”
The government “halted construction to allow time to determine whether those impacts could be mitigated before the Project is fully constructed,” wrote BOEM Deputy Director Matthew Giacona in a filing last week. But BOEM also says it is “not aware whether the national security risks can be mitigated,” or whether “cancellation is the preferred option.”
Our offshore wind tracker: What’s new with wind projects off Massachusetts and beyond?
Offshore wind is changing fast. Here’s our tracker, first published in April 2025, and the latest on where the Northeast’s wind projects stand as of Feb. 2, 2026.
In its court filings for Vineyard Wind and other projects, BOEM said the operation of the wind farm is its primary concern. However, Vineyard Wind has been allowed to continue operating and generating power. Vineyard Wind, in filings, called BOEM’s reasoning “illogical.”
Murphy also questioned this during the hearing arguments, stating that if the national security interest regards project operations, how can he not conclude that allowing operations but precluding construction is arbitrary?
Among the five projects that received suspension orders, Vineyard Wind is furthest along and was the only one generating power.
BOEM used this fact in its argument against Vineyard Wind’s claims of irreparable harm, stating the agency has “limited any economic harm” by allowing power generation during the suspension. Justice Department attorney John Adams also said it’s evidence that the federal government considered the state’s and project’s interests.
Arguments include electricity rates, blade break
Meanwhile, the 2024 blade break seems to be the project’s Achilles’ heel. BOEM cited this incident to challenge Vineyard Wind’s claims that its lenders may seek foreclosure if construction is significantly delayed by the suspension.
“Construction on the Project was stalled for the latter half of 2024 while Vineyard Wind dealt with the issue of defective blades, and the lenders apparently did not seek to foreclose on the loan during that period,” wrote Giacona.
However, in filings this week, Vineyard Wind said it received a letter from its lenders on Jan. 23 that questions the financial viability of the project. The company also noted the circumstances are different now: it will lose its installation vessel in about two months, and it’s facing a nearing deadline with the state and utilities to power on fully.
A delay in finishing construction will result in “extraordinary financial distress and the likely collapse of the Project,” wrote company attorneys.
According to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, ratepayers have also been incurring harm from the suspension. Because the project isn’t at full power, the power purchase agreement, which sets the fixed rate for the energy, is not yet active.
“Without the contract in effect — due to the Order’s suspension of lease activities — Massachusetts ratepayers are paying volatile and expensive wholesale costs for the same amount of energy,” wrote attorneys with the Mass. AG’s office.
“Massachusetts ratepayers will have to pay at least $11 million more in direct wholesale energy market costs between January 2026 and March 2026 without the Project operating at full capacity,” the office said. “And there are additional foregone benefits, as Vineyard Wind’s stable contract price is particularly valuable in cold winter months when the electric grid is constrained and market energy prices are volatile.”
Vineyard Wind’s progress
On Tuesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released its report for Vineyard Wind electricity production in the last quarter of 2025.
Between October and December, Vineyard Wind sold about 410,378,000 kilowatt-hours of energy, about three times as much as it sold in July, August and September. In other words, Vineyard Wind was powering more homes and businesses as it continued to install and bring its turbines online.
On the labor side, 200 union workers assigned to the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal and working offshore are at risk of being abruptly terminated, said the state. They expected at least three more months of work and wages.
All but one of Vineyard Wind’s turbine towers are now standing in the Atlantic, about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. But 10 turbines remain incomplete amid blade replacement required by the federal government after the blade failure.
The towers and nacelles are bolted together, but they’re missing blades. (The industry calls these “hammerheads,” as the blade-less turbines resemble the profile of a hammer or hammerhead shark.)
Ten hammerheads currently stand offshore. All the old blades from a factory in Canada that produced the broken blade have been removed, according to court filings.
Vineyard Wind said in public filings that the federal government’s refusal to allow blade installation at those hammerheads threatens structural integrity and safety.
This includes risk of water damage to the power generator, which could imperil critical systems and alerts, and a heightened risk of lightning strikes, as the protection system is not fully operational without the receptors, which go on the blades. (One of the biggest sources of blade failure is lightning strikes.)
But the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said turbines “were routinely left in this configuration repeatedly by the project over the last year and five months with no reported adverse impacts to safety.”
Vineyard Wind said BSEE has not issued required approvals for further blade installation since the suspension was issued — a routine process that would take only a few days per blade set.
Murphy declined to issue any order on BSEE, but said if Vineyard Wind finds delays are persisting under the stay, the company can bring it before the court.
Wind industry execs in court for ruling
There was a sizable showing in court from the offshore wind industry, with officials including Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moeller and Vineyard Offshore CEO Alicia Barton in attendance. Moeller declined to comment.
SouthCoast Wind CEO Michael Brown was also in the courtroom. He regularly attended hearings last year for the multi-state suit against President Donald Trump’s wind memo, which froze all permitting and imperiled projects, such as his. (A federal judge ruled the memo was unlawful about two weeks before the Trump administration issued the project suspensions.)
“Congratulations to Vineyard Wind,” Brown said after the ruling.
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The federal government was outnumbered at the counsel tables before the judge. Adams for the Justice Department was flanked by eight attorneys representing Vineyard Wind, the state and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.
Adams directed requests for comment to the Justice Department’s press office, which declined comment.
Now, with the judge’s order in hand, the project can resume its work and install the 62nd and final turbine.
Last week, workers loaded it onto a barge in anticipation of potentially favorable ruling from the hearing, which was originally scheduled for last Friday.
At least 25 blades were also at the Marine Commerce Terminal on Tuesday morning. Vineyard Wind has said it needs to resume construction by Jan. 30 to complete turbine installation work before its contract with the specialized installation vessel, the Sea Installer, expires at the end of March.
With good weather conditions harder to come by in winter, the project doesn’t have much breathing room to ship the remaining components out of New Bedford.
“Call the Sea Installer,” Bill White, an offshore wind veteran and former executive at DEME Offshore, the company that built the vessel, called to Vineyard Wind’s Moeller as he walked out of the courthouse.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
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Congrats to VW. One more example this admin has no support for their actions. The stop order is obviously a delay tactic and the govt has no support for their actions except lies, which is the MO for this admin. The GOP is the party of lies, conspiracy theories, taking away freedom of speech, health care & support a J6 insurrectionist, election fraudster and a racist rapist pedo. This admin will go down as the worst in history with DJ being impeached a third time.
Wind is old school technology and is not the answer to our energy crisis. It’s too costly for the consumer and it’s kicking back to criminal judges and politicians. SHAMEFUL
Burning hydrocarbons is old school technology.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the Romans in England used coal in the second and third centuries (A.D. 100-200). Native Americans used it in the 1300s for cooking, heating and baking
Congrats Vinyard Wind and thanks Judge Murphy for a fair impartial ruling to allow final installation of the last turbine and replacement blades that will generate less expensive energy to hundreds of thousands consumers in the South Coast save hundreds of jobs and promise w the potential of a crane manufacturing facility in New Bedford many more.After all Donald Trump has said he wants to bring manufacturing back to America ..well here it is.BOEMS objection to Vineyard Wind Revolution and the ohers was always a red herring citing radar interference national security blah blah.China Norway the UK the undisputed leaders in Wind turbine technology have encountered no such obstacles.It was really about ensuring the Fossil fuel cartels that their interests would be protected and enshrined..remember tbe DRILL BABY DRILL even if it desecrated our national.parks and to curry favor w the Saudi princes.remember Jared Kushner entered Saudi Arabia w an empty bag and came out w 2 billion in cash..was that to ensure our dependency on Saudi oil..The ruling to continue construction on the final leg is a victory for the investors workers and people of the South Coast..finally thanks to Vineyard wind state of Massachusetts and AFL CIO for its legal persistence..victory for one is a victory for all
Lawfulness, valid permits, arms length investment, climate care, the power grid, our quickly rising electric demand, New Bedford’s rising offshore profile and the rippling effect of economic development throughout the region and just common sense are all well served with this ruling. Work should proceed post haste!