A large offshore wind project off the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island that was repeatedly stopped by the Trump administration came online Friday evening, sending clean energy to New England’s power grid.
The project, known as Revolution Wind, is nearing the end of construction and will ultimately generate up to 704 megawatts of electricity — the equivalent of powering 350,000 homes. That’s about 2.5% of New England’s electric supply. Construction on Revolution Wind is expected to be completed later this year.
“This project is key to diversifying our energy supply and lowering utility costs for families and businesses,” said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont in a statement.
“Today’s milestone marks an important step forward for Rhode Island’s energy future,” Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement.
“Offshore wind is part of our state[s’] all-of-the-above energy strategy,” he said.
The wind farm is expected to lower electricity costs throughout New England. The region has some of the highest electricity prices in the country. It’s also expected to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and lessen the risk of blackouts during winter and other periods of high demand.
“Today is good news for Connecticut and the region’s ratepayers, who will save hundreds of millions of dollars a year on their electricity bills thanks to Connecticut and Rhode Island’s efforts to bring Revolution Wind online,” said Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Commissioner Katie Dykes in a statement.
“As we’ve seen from the harsh winter we’ve had, and the impacts to fossil fuel prices as a result of the Iran war, having diverse sources of stable, reliable power that both perform strongly in the winter and are insulated from geopolitical events is beneficial to Connecticut ratepayers,” she said.
Environmental and economic benefits
Revolution Wind is the second large-scale offshore wind project to come online in New England.
Vineyard Wind 1, an offshore wind project off the coast of Massachusetts, finished construction on Friday and has been sending electricity to the New England power grid since 2024.
Together, these two projects could lower the risk of power outages in New England by 55%, according to an analysis of winter wind speeds by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“Offshore wind adds a lot of power at times when the power grid is most stressed,” said Susan Muller, senior energy analyst at Union of Concerned Scientists. “It’s going to help protect everyone in New England from blackouts, especially in the winter.”
The new power source will also help reduce New England’s reliance on fossil fuels.
“Over the course of the last 25 years, it’s no secret that New England’s electric grid has become increasingly dependent on fuels such as natural gas,” said Chris Phelps, state director of Environment Connecticut.
This past January, as cold temperatures dipped during winter storm Fern, the Department of Energy issued an emergency order, allowing power plants that burn oil and natural gas to exceed federal air quality limitations to keep electricity flowing to customers.
“When we see dramatic spikes in energy demand in New England, as we did during the coldest periods of the winter just a few weeks ago, some of those older, dirtier fossil fuel and power plants start to spin up in New England and our air quality is harmed as a result,” Phelps said. “With offshore wind available, that becomes less necessary.”
Offshore wind is also less volatile than natural gas when it comes to prices, Phelps said.
“Gas prices in particular have experienced moments of extreme volatility and price swings up and down. Wind is an example of an energy resource that doesn’t have that problem attached to it,” he said.
On-again, off-again: Trump’s ongoing offshore wind battle
Construction on Revolution Wind was abruptly halted by the Trump administration twice last year.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued its first work-stop order on Aug. 22, stating the federal government needed to review the project and address national security concerns. Revolution Wind was approximately 80% complete at the time with 45 of its 65 turbines installed. Developers said the project had already been reviewed and permitted by the defense department with all necessary state and federal permits secured in 2023.
Two lawsuits were filed in response — one by Orsted, the Danish company developing Revolution Wind, and another by Connecticut and Rhode Island. One month later, in September, a judge ruled work could continue on Revolution Wind, stating the government failed to “make any factual findings or cite any reasons” why the project should be stopped.
Four months after that, on Dec. 22, the federal government issued another work-stop order — this time stopping construction on five offshore wind farms on the East Coast, including Revolution Wind. The other wind farms included Vineyard Wind 1 off Massachusetts, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind off New York, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind off Virginia.
BOEM suspended leases on all five wind farms, stating national security risks for radar equipment used by marine vessels.
According to the Department of the Interior, “unclassified reports from the U.S. government have long found that the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers create radar interference called ‘clutter’” and false targets.
Energy experts were quick to criticize the statement.
“The current evidence suggests that these risks are quite modest and can easily be addressed,” said Kenneth Gillingham, professor of energy and environmental economics at Yale School of the Environment.
“You can change the radar settings so that false positives are less likely to happen. This is something that's done all the time in places where there happens to be a lot of steel,” he said, noting militaries that work around offshore wind turbines in Europe’s North Sea.
“This is the use of the executive branch in an arbitrary way that has never been used before,” Gillingham said.
The judge said the administration failed to explain why construction could not continue and that members of the administration were vocal in criticizing offshore wind farms for reasons unrelated to national security.
Visual impact
The island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts is one of the closest points of land to Revolution Wind, about 12 miles away.
Bettina Washington, tribal historic preservation officer for the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe on Martha’s Vineyard, said the tribe does not oppose renewable energy, but wind farms have changed what was once an endless horizon.
“The true visual impact — which would affect anybody who wants to come up and out to the south, southwest, southeast, off Aquinnah — is quite jarring, and especially at night,” she said. “So, we understand that this energy is being produced to help cut down on fossil fuels. In essence, we support that. But it is a very difficult — I would say — thing to see, and how that affects us for our viewsheds.”
She said the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe will continue to call for no additional turbines to be built along the island coast.
This story has been updated. WCAI's Jennette Barnes contirubted to this report.
Áine Pennello is a Report for America corps member, covering the environment and climate change for Connecticut Public
