Federal government to reconsider SouthCoast Wind

The Trump administration continues to disrupt the offshore wind industry as the federal government plans to reconsider the approval of SouthCoast Wind, one of the largest wind farms off the coast of the Island, which already anticipated a four-year delay in construction due to federal policies.

Trump’s administration plans to review the farm’s construction and operations plan (COP), an application for a permit to develop an offshore wind farm, which was approved by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Jan. 17, days before Trump took office.

The project, developed by Ocean Winds 26 miles southeast of the Vineyard, would include up to 141 turbines and cover about 127,388 acres. Approving the project’s COP was one of the last moves of the Biden administration.

The latest decision was greeted with enthusiasm by the town of Nantucket, which has been fighting the project in the courts.

“Nantucket supports renewable energy, and recognizes that proper permitting and policymaking for wind energy development rests in the hands of the federal government,” Nantucket Select Board member Brooke Mohr said in a press release. “But the permitting for SouthCoast Wind failed to account for the significant harm the project will cause Nantucket, a federally designated National Historic Landmark. We welcome this opportunity for federal agencies to re-evaluate their decision and correct course.”

The government’s decision to reconsider the approval was revealed in a court document Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice in a case filed by the town of Nantucket. The department asked a federal court to pause Nantucket’s appeal of BOEM’s decision to permit the project. The appeal, filed March 27, said the federal agency violated environmental and cultural protection laws when it approved SouthCoast Wind’s permit.

The district court for D.C. previously granted the federal defendants an extension until Sept. 5 to respond to Nantucket’s complaint, but on Friday, a further deferral was necessary because the Department of the Interior (BOEM is an agency within the Interior) “intends to reconsider its COP approval.” 

The outcome of the reconsideration could affect Nantucket’s claims in the case, as the “COP approval is the final agency action at the root of Plaintiff’s claims.”

The Trump administration also recently issued a stop-work order that halted construction of Revolution Wind, another project 12 miles southwest of Aquinnah, which was nearly completed.