Revolution Wind, the 704-megawatt offshore wind farm off Rhode Island, now has all 65 of its turbines standing in the water, and the project has been feeding electricity into the New England grid since March 13, 2026. On October 9, Interior Department attorneys told a federal court that the agency’s own approval of the project should be sent back for reconsideration, and the turbines were still turning when the filing landed.
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The filing does not shut the wind farm down, and Interior itself says it is not a change of course. It does revive a legal fight the administration has lost twice in court, now aimed at the permit rather than at the construction work, and it arrives at a moment when the project has less left to build than at any earlier point in the dispute.
Sixty-five turbines and a $6.2 billion build
Electrek’s report on the project’s operating status puts the cost at $6.2 billion and says developers expect the farm to supply more than 350,000 homes and businesses. Trade press reported on September 18 that the last turbine was in place. Offshore Wind Biz counts 65 Siemens Gamesa SG 11.0-200 DD machines built by Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables, with commissioning continuing and commercial operation expected later this year.
Once complete, the project is to deliver 400 MW to Rhode Island and 304 MW to Connecticut. An Ørsted spokesperson told the trade outlet the project “continues to progress toward an anticipated commercial operation date later this year.” Until commissioning finishes, the farm is delivering power but has not reached its full 704 MW output.
What Interior asked the court to do
The October 9 filing was made in a 2024 lawsuit brought by Green Oceans, an anti-wind group that challenges federal permits for Revolution Wind and South Fork Wind. According to the CT Mirror’s account of the filing, Interior asked for a remand of its prior approval of the construction and operations plan, which the agency issued about three years ago. It argues that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s 2023 record of decision failed to “adequately explain” the project’s impacts, and it wants to reevaluate compliance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
The argument differs from earlier attempts to stop the project. Those leaned on national security and military radar concerns, while this one rests on whether the original approval explained how the wind farm fits alongside other ocean uses such as fishing and recreation. The filing cites no specific new concern, and Interior described its action as “complying with a briefing schedule, not announcing a policy change.” Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has not yet ruled on the request, and an Ørsted spokesperson declined to comment on the filing.
Two court losses behind the new filing
The project has been here before. After Interior ordered work stopped in August 2025, Lamberth granted a preliminary injunction in September, calling the government’s conduct “the height of arbitrary and capricious government conduct,” as Electrek reported at the time. The farm was then about 80% complete, with 45 of its 65 turbines installed.
A second halt followed in December 2025, one of several stop-work orders against East Coast offshore wind projects that cited a classified Defense Department report about possible radar interference. E&E News reported that Lamberth overturned that order on January 12, 2026, finding the government had not explained why new information justified stopping construction and writing that the national security rationale “may have been pre-textual.” He added that the balance of equities favored Revolution Wind continuing its work.
What a remand could and could not do
A remand sends an approval back to the agency that issued it, which does not by itself revoke the permit or halt the generating turbines. The CT Mirror notes that a decision on the request is still pending, and nothing in the reporting says Interior has ordered any operating turbine to stop.
Offshore energy trade groups have pressed Congress to act. Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, pointed to “the second-guessing of federal approvals that have already gone through a lengthy review process” as the reason Congress should pass permitting reform. The CT Mirror reports that bipartisan permitting legislation is under consideration in Congress, though a vote is not expected until after the midterm elections. The same report places the filing against a wider backdrop: a January 2025 executive order that withdrew outer continental shelf areas from wind leasing and paused permitting for new projects, and deals under which some developers have agreed to relinquish leases in exchange for billions of dollars in refunds and promises to develop oil and gas.
For now, the open questions are narrow ones: whether Lamberth grants the remand, what conditions he attaches, and whether Interior’s fresh review ends with the same approval or a different one. The turbines, meanwhile, keep delivering power while the farm works toward full commercial operation by the end of 2026.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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