BOEM seeks revocation of SouthCoast Wind approval
By Anastasia E. Lennon, Rhode Island Current
If the federal government’s request is approved, it would deal another blow to the beleaguered project — which has been delayed at least two years due to the Trump administration — and the industry at large.
This is the second time in a week that the administration has sought a remand of an offshore wind project approval, the other being for Maryland’s US Wind project. It comes just weeks after the Interior Department in court filings expressed its intent to remand not only its approval for SouthCoast Wind, but also New England Wind — two important projects for Massachusetts and New Bedford.
UPDATE: On Sept. 22, senior Federal judge Royce Lambreth ruled against the Trump administration, rejected its arguments and granted Orsted's motion to resume construction.
While the January approval, formally termed the Construction and Operations Plan (COP), gave the green light for construction, SouthCoast Wind was still hamstrung by three outstanding federal permits, and no power purchase agreement with Massachusetts or Rhode Island.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management filed the motion as part of a lawsuit brought by the Town of Nantucket in March against BOEM and Interior’s approval of the project, which calls for up to 147 turbines and would sit about 20 miles south of Nantucket (and south of Vineyard Wind).
This latest move illustrates the growing role that lawsuits brought by municipalities and activist groups against offshore wind are playing in Trump’s crackdown on the industry. Of the 20 or so actions and orders issued since January, one has directed federal attorneys to review pending litigation against projects and consider a remand of permits that the litigation contests.
President of the Rhode Island
AFL-CIO Responds to Federal Administration Moving to Vacate SouthCoast
Wind’s COP
“The SouthCoast Wind offshore
wind project will deliver affordable, reliable energy to over one million
households and thousands of jobs in New England. SouthCoast Wind
is creating thousands of family-supporting, union jobs that come with fair
wages, healthcare, retirement security, job-site protections, and rigorous
training standards. The jobs are now in jeopardy.
“It is unacceptable that this
administration is doing everything in their power to kill offshore wind
jobs. They say they care about domestic energy and bringing jobs back, and
then kill huge sources of reliable, clean power and good union jobs in New
England for no good reason. If the SouthCoast Wind project is halted,
energy costs will rise, and families across New England will be left
scrambling. Working people deserve better. This Federal Administration
must withdraw their filing and allow this much-needed project to move
forward immediately.”
“BOEM is reviewing its approvals associated with the Project and has determined, based on its review to date, that it wishes to reconsider its COP approval. That is reason enough to grant a remand,” the new motion states.
Nantucket is asking the federal government to “set aside” its record of decision approving SouthCoast Wind and restart its environmental review — a process that took more than three years to complete and culminated in key permits allowing the project to move toward construction.
In Thursday’s filing, the government suggested the town’s concerns (and lawsuit) may become moot: “BOEM likely will take a further agency action, and that action may affect — and possibly moot — Plaintiffs’ claims.”
The motion and a declaration filed by BOEM Deputy Director Matthew Giacona are littered with references to Trump’s day-one wind memo and the subsequent actions that it has borne.
This includes the withdrawal of a 2021 opinion on how the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) should be interpreted, and the reinstatement of an opinion from the first Trump administration on the law. The motion states that BOEM staff are reevaluating all agency decisions that relied on the since-withdrawn 2021 opinion, which also informed the approval of New England Wind.
Under the reinstated opinion, Giacona said, SouthCoast Wind’s COP approval may not be compliant with OCSLA.
“BOEM determined that it ‘may have failed to account for all the impacts that the SouthCoast Wind Project may cause,’” the motion states. “BOEM also found that the Environmental Impact Statement and other record documents may have ‘understated or obfuscated impacts that could have subsequently been improperly weighed in making the determinations.’”
Giacona’s declaration also appears to call into question the lease itself, which SouthCoast Wind paid millions for and has been paying hundreds of thousands in annual payments to the federal government since.
He said the project-wide review, ordered under the day-one wind memo, “could result in identifying potential issues with SouthCoast’s lease” and that the timeline for that review is “uncertain.”
Ocean Winds North America, the project’s parent company, in a statement to The Light said it plans to “vigorously defend our permits in federal court.”
“SouthCoast Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP) was approved … after a rigorous four-year review,” the statement read. “This review reflected an extensive public process that incorporated feedback from federal and state government agencies, commercial ocean users, Tribal Nations, and many other stakeholders. Stable permitting for American infrastructure projects should be of top concern for anyone who wants to see continued investment in the United States.”
SouthCoast Wind is an intervenor in the case and opposed the government’s motion. The project plans to use the Port of New Bedford for staging out of the Marine Commerce Terminal and for long-term operations and maintenance.
Mayor Jon Mitchell previously said a delay or cancellation of New England Wind and SouthCoast Wind could mean a loss of up to 200 jobs in the city.
According to Oceantic Network, an organization supporting the industry, SouthCoast Wind expects to invest $6 billion in the U.S. through wages for union labor; shipbuilding with a Louisiana port and shipbuilder; steel from Alabama and Kentucky; and investments in port infrastructure, including the New Bedford terminal.
Gov. Maura Healey, in an emailed statement Friday, said the project will create “thousands of good-paying jobs” and provide reliable, affordable power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.
“This project has been thoroughly vetted and has already undergone years of expert review,” Healey said. “There is absolutely no need for the Trump Administration to reopen permitting processes and deny jobs, investment and energy power to the states.”
Healey’s office did not respond to a question as to whether it plans to intervene.
The request for a remand will be decided by a federal judge.
Per the federal government’s filing, “District courts have broad discretion to grant or deny remands and may deem a remand inappropriate ‘if the agency’s request appears to be frivolous or made in bad faith,’” but it also says courts “commonly” grant them.
As this plays out, more than a dozen states, including Massachusetts, are waiting on a federal judge to rule whether Trump’s first-day wind memo, the action underlying all of this, is unlawful. It’s unclear when that decision will come, and what scope of relief it could provide to the states, which are relying on the projects to meet climate mandates and rising grid demand.
This story was first published Sept. 19, 2025 by The New Bedford Light.
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