NE4OSW Opposes Federal Pause of Offshore Wind Projects Under Construction
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 22, 2025
Contact:
Jennifer Delony, New England for Offshore Wind
jdelony@ne4osw.org, 603.320.7043
BOSTON – December 22, 2025 – Today, Sec. Doug Burgum announced that the Interior Department has paused leases for five offshore wind projects under construction off the East Coast.
Katie Segal, Senior Director of OSW, Environmental League of MA, and Regional Lead for New England for Offshore Wind (NE4OSW) said:
“Pausing fully-permitted offshore wind projects at the finish line doesn’t just strand billions of dollars at sea. It strands American workers, undermines our energy security, increases our energy bills, and sends a chilling message that no infrastructure project in this country is safe from political whim.”
NE4OSW strongly opposes the Trump Administration’s pause of the five U.S. offshore wind projects under construction, two of which are in New England. The Administration’s move is contrary to any pretense of caring about energy affordability, American competitiveness, working people, or the rule of law.
Construction of these projects is nearly complete, meaning that the Administration’s actions leave billions of dollars of investments and infrastructure stranded in the water with an uncertain future. This also puts thousands of Americans out of work during the holiday season, which cascades economic losses throughout our communities.
Offshore wind will reduce the likelihood of blackouts and reduce our energy bills. The reliability and affordability of New England’s energy system depends on these projects, and New Englanders would have saved hundreds of millions of dollars last winter if offshore wind projects had been providing power to our grid.
Defense concerns were carefully vetted by the Department of Defense during the permitting process, and the projects received all required permits. If an Administration can pause fully-permitted projects at will, then no infrastructure project is safe.