Interior Department and Maryland Offshore Wind File Counter Claims in Court
The legal battle over Maryland’s planned offshore wind project is heating up as the United States followed through on its earlier statement and filed to vacate the Construction and Operation permit granted in late 2024 to US Wind. Anticipating the move after earlier statements of intent by the Department of Justice, the offshore wind developer has already filed claims with the courts to block the moves by the Trump administration.
Maryland’s WBOC News broke the story, reporting that the Department of Justice filed on Friday afternoon, September 12, as expected to vacate the permits granted by the Biden administration. The government had declared its intent at the end of August in another court filing. The U.S. is party to a lawsuit filed by government officials in Ocean City, Maryland, seeking to block the project, the first of two US Wind was to develop on its offshore lease.
Maryland Wind was the tenth commercial-scale offshore wind project approved by the Biden administration. It calls for up to 114 wind turbines that would bring power ashore in Maryland and Delaware. The plan calls for 1,700 MW of offshore wind power generation capacity. US Wind, which is owned by funds managed by Apollo Global Management, an American investment firm, and Renexia, a subsidiary of Toto Holding, had received all of its permits from the federal government as well as both Maryland and Delaware.
Today’s court filing, WBOC reports, cites “substantial concerns” about the review and approval process for the project. It specifically points to what it says is a lack of mitigation efforts to prevent impact on Maryland’s fishing industries. Ocean City, which is a popular tourist destination, has also opposed the project, saying it would hurt its business and reduce the number of visitors.
US Wind moved at the beginning of September in anticipation of the Trump administration’s actions after DOJ declared its intent to challenge the permits. The company filed a cross claim in Maryland court, saying that the effort was politically motivated. They asserted that the president, his appointees, members of Congress, and the opponents had been unfairly pressuring the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to cancel the licenses. The company, in its filing, asserted that the federal defendants failed to explain their action and the reversal of earlier government policies that supported the development.
Earlier this week, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum declared the U.S. offshore wind industry dead. According to a report by Bloomberg, Burgum said the U.S. was reviewing five projects, and he also cited the withdrawal of tax credits and other subsidies. The U.S. has also recently ordered a stop work on the installation of Revolution Wind, being developed by Ørsted. It also declared its intent to challenge the permits for Massachusetts’ SouthCoast Wind being developed by Ocean Wind North America, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and Engie, and New England Wind, which is being developed by Avangrid, a subsidiary of Spain’s Iberdrola.
In addition to the case filed by US Wind in Maryland, Ørsted also filed suit to force the stop work ordered to be lifted on its project, which is already 80 percent installed. A coalition of US states also filed a suit challenging the federal review of the wind energy sector ordered by Donald Trump.