The Attorneys General of 17 states and Washington, DC have sued the Trump administration over an executive order halting all federal approvals for wind energy projects.

Led by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, the coalition of AGs filed a lawsuit [PDF] in Massachusetts federal court on Monday seeking an injunction to pause Trump’s January 20 directive that froze all approval for wind energy projects, pending an open-ended multi-agency review.

The suit argues that the order poses an “existential threat” to the industry, since even small delays in the tightly scheduled regulatory process can send billion-dollar projects off the rails.

Even minor setbacks can dramatically increase costs and delay or even altogether derail wind-energy projects

“Even minor setbacks can dramatically increase costs and delay or even altogether derail wind-energy projects,” the suit argued, adding that federal agencies have halted permitting and project approvals on Trump’s order.

The suit alleges that the administration gave “no reasoned explanation for its categorical and indefinite halt” of wind projects, calling the move “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedures Act.

Trump’s order came down just as the AI boom was cranking up power demands from bit barns, with studies predicting that datacenters will more than double their electricity use by 2030, globally surpassing Japan’s entire consumption. 

While datacenters will gobble up energy from whatever source is available, including fossil fuels, wind could be crucial to the mix.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, wind energy was responsible for 10.2 percent of US electricity generation in 2023 – a number that could grow if additional projects remained on track. Wind is also considered one of the most cost-effective sources of energy available today, and added $20 billion to the US economy in 2022, according to the US Department of Energy.

It’s not as if the Trump administration is unaware of rising energy demand. Trump ordered the wind power freeze the same day as declaring a national energy emergency, the AGs point out. Trump’s EO called for “a reliable, diversified and affordable supply of energy” in the United States – something wind energy is already helping to do, the AGs argue.

In effect, the one-two punch of freezing wind while demanding more power has critics accusing the administration of handing a gift to fossil fuel donors. The oil and gas industry chipped in more than $25 million to pro-Trump efforts during the 2024 campaign, putting it among his biggest industry backers.

“This administration is devastating one of our nation’s fastest-growing sources of clean, reliable, and affordable energy,” James said of the suit in a press release. “This arbitrary and unnecessary directive threatens the loss of thousands of good-paying jobs and billions in investments, and it is delaying our transition away from the fossil fuels that harm our health and our planet.”

The Trump administration disagreed, naturally, telling The Register that the Attorneys General were “using lawfare to stop the President’s popular energy agenda” instead of working with him “to unleash American energy and lower prices for American families.” 

“The American people voted for the President to restore America’s energy dominance, and Americans in blue states should not have to pay the price of the Democrats’ radical climate agenda,” White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers told us in an emailed statement.

Meanwhile, the Trump team has already halted at least one offshore wind project mid-construction, wasting time, money, and materials, according to developers. ®