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Eight Democratic state attorneys general, including from Massachusetts, plan to sue the federal government over the cancellation of three offshore wind projects.
The states are targeting settlement agreements the U.S. Department of the Interior reached with Bluepoint and Invenergy to halt their plans to build wind farms off the coast of New York and Maine. The projects would have powered three million homes in the Northeast, according to an announcement released on Thursday by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell.
“DOI claimed that new national security concerns justified the cancellations, even though the federal government had already reviewed and approved the lease area after years of analysis and consultation with the Department of Defense,” the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office said in its announcement.
The attorneys general argue that canceling the projects will hurt northeastern states by depriving them of a reliable alternative to “high-cost, high-emission” fossil fuel power sources. They also say the federal government didn’t follow the legally required procedures for canceling the projects’ leases of federally controlled offshore areas.
On Thursday, the coalition gave the Department of the Interior written notice that they planned to sue in 60 days, which is required before a lawsuit can be filed. Campbell signed onto the effort along with attorneys general from Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
In a statement to The Light, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said the settlements were reached through an appropriate process with the Department of Justice.
“Attempts to rewrite history now cannot erase the reality of these projects and the damage they could cause,” the spokesperson wrote. “This administration will not sit back and let reckless projects create was higher utility costs [sic], a weakened energy system, and unnecessary harm to the environment.”
The Light reached out to the companies behind the projects for comment on Thursday afternoon, but they did not immediately respond.
In June, Massachusetts was part of a similar coalition of attorneys general that sued to challenge a similar settlement to end a wind project planned off the coast of New York by TotalEnergies. President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to stall and cancel offshore wind projects over the last year and a half.
Bluepoint Wind had leased 71,000 acres of ocean between Long Island and New Jersey for a wind project to provide electricity for New York and New Jersey, according to the coalition’s legal notice.
In April, the company agreed to drop its plans for the wind farm, and any future offshore wind projects in the U.S. In return, the company was reimbursed for its $765 million lease and required to reinvest the money in a natural gas facility.
Invenergy had planned two projects. It leased 84,000 acres between Long Island and New Jersey, as well as 215,000 acres in the Gulf of Maine, according to the coalition’s legal notice. But the settlement it reached with the federal government in June returned the $653 million the company had invested in its leases and required the company to invest all of that money in “oil and gas development,” according to the legal notice. An Interior Department press release cites that figure at $765 million.
Email Grace Ferguson at gferguson@newbedfordlight.org
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Friday, July 17, 2026, to add the Department of the Interior’s response.
The illegality boggles the mind, a federal administration buying out the public interest to force investment in fossil fuel projects. Such non-sense daily acts of corruption are draining our US Treasury. Public officials collude to add federal debt for private interests gain. This administration has cost each person so much money – for import tariff bungling (Congress not Executive, has the power to impose tariff and tax revenue); for waste, fraud and abuse such as rotting international aid left in warehouses; $Billions per day cost of war following the Executive’s brilliant chess move of bombing Iran; crumbling US healthcare; spiked utility and fuel pricing; unaffordable groceries and cost of living; local taxes rising; all so the richest pay trillions less in federal tax. What a Big Beautiful Burning Country we have become, watching the annual Congressional budget deficit and US debt increase by $3 trillion from January 2025 to Jan 2026. We taxpayers owe $3,000 per year per capita just to pay the federal debt interest. Oh, and that debt is largely held by the global richest.
We need to stop burning fossil fuel. That debate ended 30 years ago. The rate at which carbon fuelled changes heat the surface of Earth to Venus is the only debate.
Invest in wind/solar/battery/efficiency now more than ever, before all of our earnings and planet burn away out of negligent stupidity.
All this woman does is sue the administration. Perhaps the “light” can look into the following:
1. How much does each of these lawsuits cost the taxpayers?
2. What benefit is it to the state to join in with other states?
3. Does anyone have oversight regarding when to sue vs. when to leave it to other states or is it only the AG who decides?
4. Is there a budget that limits the number of suits she can sign on to?
5. Has she sought professional help to deal with her Trump obsession?
Good Comment Will !
We need new leadership in this state and a great example is the Attorney General Andrea Campbell, she always in the lime light taking on Washington but when it comes to state business she refused to enforce the audit law voted on by the residents against the Legislature. Some say it was because the Legislature approved a 12% increase for her office’s budget. Can you think of a clearer example of a quid pro quo? This is just more garbage politics in Massachusetts, again we need new leadership in our state.
Andrea Campbell continues Maura Healey’s obsession and full time pursuit of lawsuits against President Trump and neglects her legal responsibilities to the citizens of the Commonwealth on multiple fronts. In my opinion, the multitude of these lawsuits and their cost to the Commonwealth in monies and time wasted by legal counsel has become the primary function of the Office of the Attorney General of Massachusetts
Andrea Campbell could not get the legal wording correct on three MAJOR ballot initiatives—-MA Income Tax Reduction, MA Rent Control and MA Legislative Incentive Payments. However, it is extremely interesting how well these three “failures” politically served Governor Maura Healey and very effectively denied the MA voters their say in these matters.
Andrea Campbell, et al, did not want the Ma voters to decide these ballot initiatives, as it was very likely that they would prevail.
Commentator Will is correct, this is a pathological obsession with particular lawsuits that serve an agenda and not the benefit of our citizens. It is a pathological “me too” attitude that has become a chronic condition with the Attorney Generals of the Commonwealth.
Massachusetts put the cart before the horse. Shutting down fossil fuel plants long before offshore wind power. Governor Maura Healey previously opposed and actively fought against the construction of two major natural gas pipelines. Massachusetts electric bills are among the highest in the country due to severe natural gas pipeline constraints.
The Vineyard Wind project was supposed to power 800,000 homes but is producing only one-third of that.
No more offshore wind projects may come online until 2032.
The utility companies are backing up the grid with battery backup, costing billions. Massachusetts will soon be number one for high electric bills.