‘Specific’ Revolution Wind national security risks remain classified in court documents
by Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
A recent federal analysis revealed new and specific national security risks posed by offshore wind, including Rhode Island’s nearly completed Revolution Wind project, according to the Trump administration.
But, it’s classified.
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| Pages from a federal analysis outlining perceived national security risks posed by Revolution Wind and four other East Coast wind farm projects submitted in a court filing by the Department of Justice. |
Federal regulators, and the U.S. Department of Justice attorneys representing them in court, offered little explanation for the abrupt suspension of five East Coast wind projects, including Revolution Wind, in court filings submitted Thursday. The tranche of documents, spanning 160 pages, defends the Interior Department’s Dec. 22 stop work order, which is being challenged by the Revolution Wind project developers, along with the companies behind three of the four other projects.
For the 65-turbine Revolution Wind project already 87% complete south of Rhode Island’s coastline, the late December halt to construction was especially harmful. The 704-megawatt project already endured a monthlong pause from August to September when federal regulators first sought to stop work under the guise of national security concerns.
The initial stop work order was temporarily tossed by U.S. Senior Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Lamberth is scheduled to consider the second request for a preliminary injunction from the Revolution Wind developers, joined by the Rhode Island and Connecticut AGs, on Monday.
Ahead of the in-person hearing, Trump attorneys laid out their defense in writing to the court. They refuted allegations of constitutional breaches, and consequences for the project developers, who say they are at risk of losing $6 billion if construction cannot resume by Jan. 12.
The Trump administration’s response?
“When it comes to the operation of the Project, the public interest in national security outweighs Revolution Wind’s alleged economic harms,” wrote Adam Gustafson, principal deputy assistant attorney general for the environment and natural resources division.
But exactly what security concerns prompted the Trump administration to renege on the existing federal approval for the project remains fuzzy. The project had already undergone a rigorous and lengthy review of economic, environmental and security considerations.
Jacob Tyner, the Interior Department’s deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, pointed to a November 2025 assessment completed by the Department of War, the new name the Trump administration has given the Department of Defense. The assessment itself is classified.
But according to Tyner, “This information included, among other things, discussion of the rapid evolution of relevant adversarial technologies and the direct impacts to national security that arise from the operation of offshore wind projects in proximity to early warning monitoring systems, and military and civilian radar systems.”
The findings set off a chain reaction: Defense leaders met with federal wind energy regulators to update them on the new analysis. Energy regulators then wrote to Revolution Wind and developers of four other projects to call for a 90-day pause because they “had not considered the specific national security risks” in prior reviews of the projects, Tyner wrote.
This despite documented analysis, and agreement, over how the towering turbines spinning in Rhode Island sound might affect military surveillance and radar systems by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) out of its operations center in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
A November 2024 agreement between the Department of Defense, the U.S. Air Force and the Revolution Wind developers outlined ways the parties agreed to mitigate potential radar concerns, including ongoing coordination and analysis of the acoustic monitoring equipment and fiber-optic cables used in the project constitution and operations.
The agreement also called for the project developers to give $80,000 to the Defense Department within 10 days of completion for adverse effects from its project.
In exchange, the Defense Department agreed not to object or interfere with project construction and operation, as long as the developers’ remained in “material compliance.”
“As of the effective date of this agreement, Project Owner has disclosed to the DoD Parties in writing all material facts necessary for the DoD Parties to be able to fully assess the Project’s potential adverse impacts on military operations and readiness and risks to national security,” the agreement, signed Nov. 4 2024, states.
A second declaration from Dale Marks, deputy undersecretary of acquisition and sustainment for the Defense Department, might offer some clue what changed. But nearly all of the eight-page submission is redacted. A separate classified declaration — presumably without redactions — was submitted to the court for private review by the judge.
Burgum’s initial halt to construction set out a 90-day review timeline, though it acknowledged the possibility of extending the pause. But Tyner’s declaration hinted that a resolution may never come.
“At this time, BOEM is not aware whether the national security risks can be mitigated and, if they can, whether Developers would find the proposed mitigation measures acceptable,” Tyner wrote. “Further, any potential mitigation measures may be more effectively incorporated into the Revolution Wind Project before construction is completed.”
Also affected by the suspension order are Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind, both off New York’s coastline; Vineyard Wind 1, south of Martha’s Vineyard; and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind. Developers for Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind and the Virginia project have also filed separate federal lawsuits against the Trump administration seeking to resume their projects.
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