Judge Lifts Vineyard Wind Construction Halt

A federal judge in Boston ruled on Tuesday that the Vineyard Wind offshore project off the coast of Massachusetts can resume construction, granting a preliminary injunction against a stop-work order issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior last month. The decision by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy allows the nearly complete project to restart activities while legal challenges proceed, marking the fourth such court victory for developers facing the administration's suspension of East Coast wind initiatives.

The Vineyard Wind project, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is located about 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. At 95 percent complete, it has already begun delivering power to the New England grid and is designed to generate 800 megawatts, enough to supply electricity to around 400,000 homes and businesses once fully operational. Developers had projected completion by the end of March before the halt disrupted progress, leading to daily economic losses estimated in the millions from delayed financing and contracts.

The Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued the suspension on December 22,...