Trump Again Pauses All Offshore Wind Farms, Including Empire Wind 19 Miles Off Long Branch

LONG BRANCH, NJ — For the second time this year, President Donald Trump's administration put a pause on all offshore wind farm development in the United States, and Empire Wind — currently being built 19 miles off Long Branch — is affected.

On Monday, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Borgum announced he is pausing the leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects in the U.S. His decision temporarily shuts down existing wind farms already in operation, including Vineyard Wind off Martha's Vineyard and Sunrise Wind off Rhode Island. It also stops all work on wind farms in development, including Empire Wind, which started installing monopiles into the Atlantic Ocean floor and was 40 percent complete as of August.

Empire Wind is owned by Norwegian renewable energy company Equinor, the majority shareholder of which is the Kingdom of Norway.

Borgum said he made his decision due to national security risks identified by the Department of War. Borgum cited reports from the Dept. of War that said the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers can create radar interference called “clutter.” That radar interference can obscure legitimate moving targets and generates false targets near wind farms.

"This pause will give the Department, along with the Department of War and other relevant government agencies, time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects," the Department of the Interior said Monday.

These are the five existing or planned wind farms off the United States affected by the new order:

1. Vineyard Wind 1 (OCS-A 0501) - off Marth's Vineyard, Massachusetts
2. Revolution Wind (OCS-A 0486) - off Rhode Island and Connecticut
3. CVOW – Commercial (OCS-A 0483) - off Virginia
4. Sunrise Wind (OCS-A 0487) - off Block Island, Rhode Island
5. Empire Wind 1 (OCS-A 0512) - off New Jersey

“We are aware of the stop-work order announced by the Department of Interior involving five wind projects under offshore construction in the U.S. We are evaluating the order and seeking further information from the federal government," an Equinor spokesman said Monday.

"They will sue (referring to the wind companies)," Jersey Shore Congressman Chris Smith predicted. "But it's done. This is the nail in the coffin. This is more than a pause. It's stopped."

Smith is a Republican who has been against wind farms off New Jersey for years.

"When you get into issues of national security, the courts will err on the side of national defense and the Department of Defense, or the Department of War rather, as it's now called," he continued. "Offshore wind farms disrupt radar; the military has been saying this for years. You really could have planes flying into planes."

On his first day back in office in January, President Trump issued an executive order that put a pause on all U.S. wind farm development. However, Trump's order could not legally apply to existing wind farm leases that already received permits under the Biden administration. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul intervened (Empire Wind is meant to supply wind power only to New York state, not New Jersey), and in May, the federal government lifted its stop-work order. Empire Wind was allowed to resume building off Long Branch.

Empire Wind is the only wind farm off New Jersey to actually begin construction; by mid-August they were in the process of installing 54 monopiles into the ocean floor. A monopile holds the actual wind turbine on top of it. Here are photos of Empire Wind being built off Long Branch.

At 19 miles out, Empire Wind's turbines are too far to be visible from the shore.

Trump Admin. Lifts Stop-Work Order, Allows Empire Wind Farm Off NJ To Proceed (May 20)

Empire Wind Farm 19 Miles Off Long Branch Is '40 Percent Complete,' Company Says (August 8)