Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse warned that a Justice Department request to revisit a Massachusetts offshore wind permit could threaten a bipartisan Senate deal aimed at speeding reviews for energy and infrastructure projects.
In an Oct. 20 filing, the Justice Department said New England Wind’s 2024 construction and operations plan had been approved despite major adverse impacts and asked a federal judge to return the approval to the Interior Department for another decision.
The challenge comes from ACK for Whales, a group of residents of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Its lawsuit says the federal government failed to satisfy multiple legal requirements when it approved the project.
Construction has not started. Project plans set a ceiling of 129 turbines and 2,600 megawatts of generating capacity; at that scale, annual output could cover electricity demand for over 900,000 homes.
The Senate reached a bipartisan deal in September to speed reviews for energy and infrastructure projects, the Associated Press reported. The news service said the agreement had not come to a Senate vote. Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, warned in a statement Wednesday, “This is how you blow up a permitting deal.”
Interior said Wednesday that it submitted the motion in keeping with the court’s schedule and that the filing did not reflect a policy shift. The Associated Press reported that federal officials had informed the court in 2025 of their intention to revisit the New England Wind approval.
The Associated Press also reported that Interior is pursuing new reviews of the Revolution Wind and Maryland Offshore Wind Project approvals. Earlier court cases involved Atlantic Shores, whose permit a judge allowed the administration to reconsider in August, and SouthCoast Wind, whose permit a judge said in 2025 could be reconsidered.
The National Ocean Industries Association said recurring scrutiny of offshore energy approvals leaves developers with less certainty, particularly when projects are already operating or being built. It represents businesses in offshore sectors including oil and wind. Avangrid, the project’s developer, declined to comment Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
