Courtney: Unjustified Revolution Wind Halt Work Order Needs to be Overturned Quickly

WASHINGTON, D.C. ­- Today, in a speech on the House floor, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) called on the Trump Administration to quickly lift its halt work order the Revolution Wind offshore wind energy project. Despite pressure from Rep. Courtney, the project contractor, state leaders, and the Connecticut and Rhode Island Congressional delegation, the Trump Administration has not provided detailed reasoning for its August 22^nd order.

"This halt work order needs to be overturned quickly. As we heard on Friday, the U.S. labor market is weakening, and we know the cost of electricity is going up. Leaving Revolution Wind in limbo with thousands of jobs on the line is completely unacceptable. It is no secret that the President doesn't like wind power, but this project has been permitted, paid for, and is 80% finished," Courtney said.

"Leaving the work order in place is hurting working families and electric ratepayers. Lawsuits have been filed, and the U.S. government and taxpayers are going to pay dearly for this uncalled-for about-face on a project that the government approved two years ago. The better path is to quickly lift the order, meet face to face with the developer, the Governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut to end this chaos and get the operating engineers, the longshoremen, the laborers, and the electrical workers back on track to finish the job that today is 80% finished. That's not a partisan statement. That's simple commonsense," Courtney continued.

Watch Congressman Courtney's full speech on the Houe floor.

FULL FLOOR SPEECH TRANSCRIPT

Madam Speaker, on August 22nd, the Trump Administration, with absolutely no warning, issued a halt work order to an offshore wind project off the coast of southern New England that has been in the works for nine years. The developers of this project have invested close to $4 billion, employed thousands of workers, and installed 45 out of 65 wind turbines that the federal government permitted in 2023.

As of August 22nd, 80% of the project is complete and 100% of the turbine foundations have been placed on the ocean floor. When the turbines are turned on, 704MW of power will be transmitted by cable to Rhode Island and Connecticut, enough electricity to power 350,000 homes - 400MW to Rhode Island, 304MW to Connecticut. The wind power contracts approved by both states at a guaranteed rate, will, over time, save money for ratepayers, particularly during winter cold months and will add to the grid at a time we all know demand for electricity is going to increase.

Incredibly, the Energy Department's halt order was one page long and cited nonspecific, vague, "national security concerns" as the reason to suddenly eliminate good jobs and a plentiful supply of affordable electricity.

Despite repeated requests from the operators, the two states, the Congressional delegations, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has provided absolutely no description or detail of what exactly [are] the national security concerns that, at this late hour, could possibly justify such a drastic action. The closest thing to an explanation came in a CNN interview with the Secretary of [the Interior] a few days ago who cited radar interference and possible swarm attacks from undersea drones at the wind farm as potential threats.

Madam Speaker, here's the thing. During the years long permitting process, BEOM meticulously investigated all national security concerns and in its 2023 Record of Decision approving the project, specifically had a section on national security. It specifically addressed the issue of radars. That was resolved to the satisfaction of the Department of Defense and NORAD.

Madam Speaker, I have a letter from the Department of Defense dated December 2024, which states that the Department has found that construction of Revolution Wind would have no adverse impacts on DoD missions in the area, and I asked that it be admitted to the record. Thank you.

Regarding the swarming undersea drones, Revolution Wind has a contract with Thayer Mahan, a maritime company that installs and operates undersea surveillance technology using sonar arrays and pickets to keep watch and detect malign activity. And they protect wind farms today, they protect oil rigs today, they protect U.S. maritime ports today with the finest technology.

Madam Speaker, Secretary Burgum and his staff at BOEM should review its own prior investigation on national security and actually meet with the developers and undersea experts in Connecticut and Rhode Island to learn about the thorough, comprehensive investments and systems that were developed with the U.S. Coast Guard, the US Navy, the Department of Defense, and the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure the safe, reliable operation of the wind farms.

Madam Speaker, this halt work order needs to be overturned quickly. As we heard on Friday, the U.S. labor market is weakening, and we know the cost of electricity is going up. Leaving Revolution Wind in limbo with thousands of jobs on the line is completely unacceptable. It is no secret that the President doesn't like wind power, but this project has been permitted, paid for, and is 80% finished.

Leaving the work order in place is hurting working families and electric ratepayers. Lawsuits have been filed, and the U.S. government and taxpayers are going to pay dearly for this uncalled-for about-face on a project that the government approved two years ago. The better path is to quickly lift the order, meet face to face with the developer, the Governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut to end this chaos and get the operating engineers, the longshoremen, the laborers, and the electrical workers back on track to finish the job that today is 80% finished. That's not a partisan statement. That's simple commonsense.

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