A coalition of renewable energy groups asked a federal court on Friday to order the Pentagon to resume reviews of onshore wind projects, in an attempt to end delays by the Trump administration that have brought the U.S. wind power industry to a standstill.
Since April, the Pentagon has stopped all military reviews of proposed wind farms, which are meant to ensure that turbines don’t interfere with local radar or flight paths. Virtually every new wind project in the country needs to undergo these reviews, which until recently were considered routine and often completed within months.
The delays have led to a “total halt of all wind development in the United States,” the groups told the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in a lawsuit filed against the Defense Department last week. At least 106 planned wind projects in 21 states have been stalled indefinitely, representing an estimated $47 billion in potential investment.
The nine regional renewable energy groups — including Renewable Northwest, Advanced Power Alliance and Alliance for Clean Energy New York — filed a new motion on Friday asking the court for a preliminary injunction that would order the Pentagon to resume its reviews while litigation over the case continued.
“The American wind industry is ready to meet growing energy demand,” said Jason Grumet, chief executive of the American Clean Power Association, an industry trade group that is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “We need the U.S. government to carry out normal review and permitting processes to keep the lights on for American families and businesses.”
A spokesman for the Pentagon declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. In May, Joel Valdez, the agency’s acting press secretary, said in a statement that the Defense Department was “actively evaluating land-based wind energy projects to ensure they do not impair national security or military operations, in accordance with statutory and regulatory requirements.”
The delayed reviews are the latest in a series of extraordinary actions by the Trump administration to halt the expansion of wind power in the United States. On his first day in office, President Trump issued a moratorium on all approvals for wind farms on federal lands, and the Interior Department last year issued stop-work orders for five wind farms in the Atlantic Ocean that were already under construction. More recently, the administration agreed to pay several companies $1.8 billion to abandon their offshore wind plans.
Mr. Trump has called wind turbines ugly and expensive, and has instead pushed to meet rising power demand with fossil fuels like coal and natural gas.
“My goal,” he said in January, “is to not let any windmill be built.”
Federal courts have ruled against many of those actions. Earlier this year, several judges said they were not convinced by the administration’s arguments that offshore wind farms posed a threat to national security and allowed the five projects currently under construction to proceed.
Yet wind developers say the delays at the Pentagon could pose the biggest risk yet to the industry.
Before any large wind farm can begin construction, its developers need to apply for clearances from the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates the national airspace. As part of that process, the F.A.A. refers the application to the Pentagon, which checks to see whether a project might interfere with military radar or nearby air bases.
In the past, many wind projects have quickly received “no hazard” determinations, allowing them to move forward. But some projects do create issues, and they typically need to reach a mitigation agreement with the Pentagon. That might involve the company paying to upgrade nearby radar systems or modifying the layout of its turbines.
This process was for years considered routine and predictable, with deadlines set by Congress. But since last August, wind developers began encountering severe delays, the lawsuit said. Companies that had negotiated mitigation agreements could not move forward because top Pentagon officials would not deliver the final signatures needed.
Then, in April, the review process halted entirely, and Pentagon staff were directed to stop work on wind projects, the lawsuit says. Meetings with developers were suddenly canceled.
That same month, the Pentagon sent some companies a letter explaining that it was looking at new national security concerns with wind turbines. But it did not provide specifics.
The renewable energy groups argued that the freeze violates federal law and asked the courts for an injunction because, they said, further delays could jeopardize many projects. Some may miss deadlines to qualify for federal tax credits, while others may get canceled entirely.
Of the wind projects affected by the freeze, 41 are in Texas, which produces more wind power than any other state. Large projects in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington are also affected.
Wind power currently provides about 10 percent of the nation’s electricity. About 15 gigawatts worth of wind projects are currently under development and have already received F.A.A. approval. But another 29 gigawatts still need review by the Pentagon, according to the lawsuit. (One gigawatt can provide enough electricity for roughly 300,000 homes, although wind turbines don’t run at all hours.)
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