The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on October 21, 2026, filed an appeal regarding the approval of the construction and operation plan for the New England offshore wind energy project for the fourth time in the district court. This project is proposed by Avangrid, a subsidiary of the Spanish company Iberdrola, and is located approximately 20 nautical miles south of Martha's Vineyard and 24 nautical miles southwest of Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Details of the Appeal
In this appeal, the DOJ has requested the federal court for the District of Columbia to return the approval of the construction and operation plan (COP) to the Department of the Interior so that the department can review the permit under the Marine Areas Act. The submitted memorandum notes that this approval, announced on July 1, 2024, did not fully consider the identified factors in the legal subcategories.
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Impact on Other Projects
This DOJ action also includes an appeal for the offshore wind energy project in Maryland, which is being developed by US Wind. This project has also been fighting in the courts since its approval in 2024. Additionally, the Department of Justice has also filed a request for an appeal regarding the Atlantic Shores project proposed off the coast of New Jersey. This project has been suspended due to lack of progress.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island has criticized the government's actions, stating that these actions undermine the bipartisan agreement that the White House appeared to support. Reforms related to the approval process for infrastructure projects are expected to be passed after the current break of the U.S. Senate, but recent DOJ actions seem to jeopardize support for this agreement.
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