The Interior Department offered its first detailed explanation for why it stopped work on a $6.2 billion offshore wind project under construction off Connecticut and Rhode Island, saying in a court filing last week that the project had failed to reach an agreement with the Defense Department on measures to mitigate impacts from electromagnetic emissions and fiber-optic sensors.
The government’s explanation came in response to a court challenge from Revolution Wind, which is seeking to overturn Interior’s decision last month to stop work on the 65-turbine project. Revolution Wind, which was 80 percent complete at the time it was halted, has become the poster-child of the Trump administration’s clampdown on wind power. Northeastern governors, business groups and environmentalists have protested the order, saying delays to the project could send power prices soaring while increasing the risk of blackouts.
Yet Interior had said little about its decision to stop the project.
In an Aug. 22 letter to Revolution Wind, federal energy regulators cited national security concerns but they did not elaborate. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a subsequent media appearance that the government was worried about the project impeding the military’s ability to defend against a “swarm attack” of undersea drones.
