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FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS PENTAGON TO LIFT FREEZE ON WIND POWER  
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Brad Plumer
August 6, 2026
The New York Times
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_ Since April, the Defense Department has halted all military reviews
for wind projects, stalling dozens of projects nationwide. _

Turbines near Throckmorton, Texas. Defense Department reviews are
meant to ensure that wind farms do not interfere with radar or flight
paths., Nick Oxford/Reuters

 

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Pentagon to lift its freeze on
reviewing onshore wind projects and to end some of the delays that
have brought U.S. wind power development to a standstill.

Judge Karin Immergut of the U.S. District Court for the District of
Oregon issued a preliminary injunction
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in a lawsuit that a coalition of renewable energy groups filed against
the Defense Department. The groups argued that the Trump
administration has unlawfully delayed dozens of wind projects across
the country by halting military reviews that were once considered
routine.

In her ruling, Judge Immergut, who was appointed by President Trump,
said that the renewable energy groups were likely to prevail on the
merits and that the Pentagon had violated legal deadlines when it
stopped its reviews. She ordered the agency to resume reviewing wind
projects and to report back to the court on its progress every 30 days
while the broader legal case played out.

Since April, the Pentagon has halted all military reviews
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of proposed wind farms, which are meant to ensure that turbines
don’t interfere with radar or flight paths. While the Trump
administration has cited national security as a rationale, the
coalition of renewable energy groups said the delays were an
unjustified tactic to thwart wind power, a technology that Mr. Trump
has derided for decades.

 

The delays have led to a “total halt of all wind development in the
United States,” the groups argued. At least 106 planned wind
projects in 21 states have been stalled indefinitely, representing an
estimated $47 billion in potential investment.

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
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with deadlines set by Congress. But last August, wind developers began
encountering severe delays. 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, according to the lawsuit
filed by renewable energy groups. Meetings with developers were
suddenly canceled.

During oral arguments on Tuesday, lawyers for the Justice Department
argued that the federal government was trying to assess potential
national security risks from new wind projects, such as the
possibility that the turbines could make it harder to detect drones,
and that there were no political motives for halting wind.

But lawyers for the renewable energy groups countered that developers
had not received an adequate explanation for why many projects were
stalled, and that even if some projects might pose concerns, a halt on
all new wind turbines nationwide was too broad and affected projects
that clearly were not a threat.

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.”

Wind power currently provides about 10 percent of the nation’s
electricity [[link removed]].
About 15 gigawatts worth of wind projects are currently under
development and have already received F.A.A. approval. But an
additional 29 gigawatts are awaiting review by the Pentagon, according
to the lawsuit. (One gigawatt of wind can provide enough electricity
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for roughly 300,000 homes, although wind turbines don’t run at all
hours.)

In their lawsuit, the coalition of renewable energy groups said that
further delays could jeopardize many projects. Some may miss deadlines
to qualify for federal tax credits, while others may get canceled
entirely.

The new ruling does not necessarily compel the Pentagon to approve
specific wind farms. But the court has ordered the agency to restart
reviews for a wide range of projects and follow legal deadlines. If
there are further delays, developers could press for relief for
individual projects once the case is decided on the merits.

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, Mr. Trump
issued a moratorium on all approvals
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for wind farms on federal land, 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 has
so far agreed to pay several companies $3.9 billion to abandon their
offshore wind plans, including in one deal announced Thursday
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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. This year,
several judges said they were not convinced
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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.

BRAD PLUMER is a Times reporter who covers technology and policy
efforts to address global warming.

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