LONG BRANCH, NJ — On Thursday, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport joined 18 other states in suing the U.S. Department of Defense and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, for what Davenport says was Hegseth's illegal decision to suddenly stop doing safety reviews of wind farms under construction across the country.
No wind farm has been built off New Jersey or New York yet. The only wind farm off New Jersey that's the closest to starting operations is Empire Wind, which is currently under construction 19 miles off Long Branch.
Empire Wind is about 60 percent complete; they started installing monopiles (the towers that hold the wind blades) into the ocean floor last summer; see these photos of the wind farm site under construction last August.
For years, Trump has been trying to shut down U.S. wind farms: On the very first day of his second term in office, Jan. 20, 2025, he issued an executive order that put a pause on all U.S. wind farm development.
Multiple states, including New Jersey, sued Trump over that, and federal courts sided with those states, ruling that blanket wind moratoriums from the White House were "arbitrary and capricious." A federal judge also said the Trump administration could not shut down wind farm projects that had already received federal permits under the Biden administration. One of those projects was Empire Wind.
In May 2025, construction on Empire Wind was allowed to start back up.
Then seven months later, the Trump administration started using national security concerns as the reason to shut down under-construction American wind farms. In December, the Trump administration ordered a pause on all offshore wind development off the East Coast, with Hegseth saying the massive turbine blades and highly reflective towers can interfere with military radar.
Equinor filed a lawsuit challenging Hegseth's order, and in January a federal judge granted Empire Wind an injunction that allowed them to resume construction yet again.
Empire Wind says it hopes to begin operating in 2027. Here's the latest on the wind farm, from the company: empirewind.com/offshore-installation/
No other wind farm off New Jersey has made as much progress as Empire Wind. In fact, Empire Wind is the only Jersey Shore wind farm to even start construction. All other wind farms proposed off the Jersey Shore have collapsed.
In April, the developers of another large wind farm proposed for the New York Bight, Bluepoint Wind, reached a deal with the Trump administration where they would cancel offshore wind leases they received under the Biden administration.
In exchange, the Trump administration reimbursed them $765 million, but under the condition that the companies reinvest that money into building fossil fuel (oil and natural gas) energy projects in the United States. Here are the terms of that deal: doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-announces-two-historic-agreements-promote-affordable-reliable-energy
New Jersey Attorney General Davenport said she would similarly sue the Trump administration over that, as well. This week, her office filed a notice of intent to sue, which is a procedural step required ahead of filing the lawsuit. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said here this week she will sue as well, as BluePoint would have supplied electricity to Massachusetts, too.
All the power generated by Empire Wind will go to New York state; it will not go to New Jersey homes. The power generated by Empire Wind will be brought ashore at Sunset Park in Brooklyn and connect to the New York City electric grid.
Here is New Jersey's lawsuit filed this week against the Dept. of Defense: njoag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026-0716_92.1.Proposed.Complaint.Motion.Intervene.DoD_.pdf
Under federal law, proposed projects with wind turbines over 200 feet tall must be reviewed by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Dept. of Defense for potential impacts on military operations, radar systems, flight paths or national security.
In August 2025, the Dept. of Defense simply stopped doing these mandatory federal safety reviews. The Department of Defense is refusing to do safety reviews of a total of 160 wind farm projects in America, including Empire Wind.
Davenport said what the federal government is doing will "indefinitely delay" wind farm openings. The Trump administration has put a "wind freeze" on renewable, clean energy, she said.
“Instead of focusing on boosting domestic sources of clean energy, the Trump administration has chosen to freeze projects that would supply much-needed electricity to New Jerseyans and people across the country,” she said. “What New Jersey residents need is more, not less, energy generation to bring down record-high electricity bills."
Davenport said wind farms need to be built in America to increase the supply of clean energy and help bring down electricity prices.
The other states that joined this lawsuit against Hegseth are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.
Empire Wind is owned by Norwegian energy company Equinor, the majority shareholder of which is the Kingdom of Norway.
Empire Wind Farm 19 Miles Off Long Branch Is '40 Percent Complete,' Company Says; See Photos Of How Wind Farm Site Looks (August 2025)
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