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<\/p>\n\n There is a glimmer of hope for the long embattled offshore wind industry.\n <\/p>\n
\n One project in Massachusetts has been sending power back to the grid for months, even as the Trump administration suspended offshore wind farm construction in December. And this week, another nearly complete project off the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island got the green light from a federal judge to continue building.\n <\/p>\n
\n Monday\u2019s ruling allowing Revolution Wind to resume construction was the first in a series of court cases that businesses and states are bringing over the course of this week, challenging the administration\u2019s December suspension of all five offshore wind projects currently under construction in the Atlantic Ocean.\n <\/p>\n
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\n It\u2019s a big win for power-starved New England, whose regional grid operator says it needs the electrons generated by these wind projects to maintain electricity reliability in the region for years to come.\n <\/p>\n
\n President Donald Trump, however, continues to double down on his distaste for offshore wind.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cMy goal is to not let any windmill be built; they\u2019re losers,\u201d Trump said on Friday, during a meeting with oil CEOs. \u201cWe don\u2019t approve, and I told my people, we will not approve windmills.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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\n The Interior Department did not immediately respond to CNN\u2019s request for comment on Monday\u2019s ruling.\n <\/p>\n
\n Trump\u2019s stance has resulted in the administration blocking projects that are nearly finished. In Monday\u2019s court arguments, representatives for Revolution Wind said the 704-megawatt wind farm was 87% complete. Construction had already been stopped once before by the administration, in August.\n <\/p>\n
\n Meanwhile, Massachusetts wind farm Vineyard Wind is also mostly complete and operational. That project has been allowed to send power to the grid even amid Trump\u2019s suspension, a spokesperson for regional grid operator ISO-New England told CNN in an email.\n <\/p>\n
\n Offshore wind has long been sought by New England and mid-Atlantic states, which rely mostly on natural gas for electricity and heating \u2014 and are lacking other ready energy infrastructure. At Monday\u2019s court hearing, representatives for Revolution Wind said their wind farm was the only project of such size ready to come online and start providing power to New England\u2019s grid soon. It\u2019s ultimately expected to generate enough electricity to power upwards of 350,000 homes. When complete, the slightly smaller Vineyard Wind project is expected to power around 200,000 homes.\n <\/p>\n
\n The largest wind farm impacted by the December order is a sprawling Virginia project that could eventually be the largest in the nation. Set to be completed by the end of this year, it would supply electricity to the region with the world\u2019s largest cluster of power-hungry data centers.\n <\/p>\n
\n Residential customers in the mid-Atlantic region, including Virginia, desperately need more energy to service the skyrocketing demand from data centers \u2014 and many are seeing spiking energy bills while they wait for new power to be brought online. In a notable move, that region\u2019s grid operator PJM Interconnection joined a lawsuit on behalf of the Virginia project, calling its 2.7 gigawatts an \u201cintegral component\u201d of electricity generation in the region.\n <\/p>\n
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\n \u201cExtended delay of construction and operation of the CVOW [Virginia] project will cause irreparable harm to the 67 million Americans served by PJM,\u201d PJM wrote in a legal brief<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n The Revolution and Vineyard wind farms are \u201cparticularly important\u201d to meeting New England\u2019s winter energy needs, energy experts and the regional grid operator ISO-NE say. In a December statement<\/a>, ISO-NE said the projects were important to maintaining \u201csystem reliability in the winter when offshore wind output is highest and other forms of fuel supply are constrained.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cCanceling or delaying these projects will increase costs and risks to reliability in our region,\u201d the regional grid operator added in a statement.\n <\/p>\n \n New England\u2019s winter energy woes are driven both by temperature and the fact that this region is the last stop on the nation\u2019s natural gas pipeline system. Competing needs for electricity and home heating can send energy prices for consumers surging.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe colder it gets on a given day, the more demands that are placed on the gas pipeline system, not just to generate electric power, but to heat people\u2019s homes,\u201d said Francis Pullaro, president of RENEW Northeast, a clean energy industry association based in New England. \u201cIf there\u2019s less demand for something, you\u2019ll lower the price.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n There\u2019s another way offshore wind will have downward pressure on prices, Pullaro said. The regional grid operator typically directs the cheapest units to run first, which means wind \u2014 which carries no cost for fuel \u2014 will be called on more, as more facilities get up and running.\n <\/p>\n \n Wind and solar \u201chave very little marginal cost; they essentially bid zero,\u201d Pullaro said. \u201cThe more wind you have on the system, and when it\u2019s running at these peak times, it essentially means you\u2019re not having to turn on that peaker gas or oil unit, because it\u2019s just not needed.\u201d\n <\/p>\n![\"Giant](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/03-ap23194799135433.jpg\")
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