Vineyard Wind has been allowed to resume work after a Boston District Court judge granted a stay against the US administration’s lease suspension and construction pause issued on 22 December 2025.
Judge Murphy granted the stay, saying the order was “likely arbitrary and capricious” and stating that the issues raised by the government pertained to wind farm operations, not construction.
The judge added that continuation of the suspension would irreparably harm the project and its developers, and the administration cited undisclosed “national security concerns” linked to a classified Department of War study.
Vineyard Wind is 95% complete and will provide 800MW of power generation to Massachusetts, according to the statement. It is owned by CIP and Iberdrola.
More than 30 vessels are supporting the project, built or retrofitted by shipyards in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Virginia.
Oceantic Network chief executive Liz Burdock said: “Vineyard Wind is critical to securing not only Massachusetts’ electric grid, but the regional grid serving millions of residents that depend on the continued, reliable delivery of electricity, especially during these cold winter months.”
Burdock added: “Offshore wind performs well during the winter season, stabilizing rising energy costs for local communities that depend on peaker plants today for adequate supply, which forces families to pay more for the power they need.”
She stated: “Oceantic applauds this result to get the project over the finish line to deliver reliable, affordable power and good-paying jobs to communities across the region that desperately need it.”
The statement said the five US projects affected by the pause would deliver 5.8GW of power for 2.5 million homes once operational.
It added that stopping the projects has paused $30bn of economic activity and threatens more than $11bn in supply chain assets.
The ruling follows court victories allowing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Empire Wind and Revolution Wind to resume work after injunctions were granted against the administration’s December suspension order.
Sunrise Wind remains paused with a hearing due on 2 February.