Posted in accidents, Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, tagged BSEE, OCS oil and gas, offshore accidents, Offshore Wind, USCG, zero fatalities on January 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »
BOE is pleased to report that there were no occupational fatalities during oil and gas operations on the US OCS in 2025!
There were also zero fatalities in 2023. Two of the past three years were thus fatality free. One fatality occurred during decommissioning operations in 2024.
One fatality was associated with US offshore wind development in 2025. A crew member died while conducting vessel maintenance on a ship working for Equinor on the Empire Wind project.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged BOEM, Judge Lamberth, Orsted, Revolution Wind, stop work order, supplemental complaint, US Dept. of the Interior on January 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Attached is the supplemental complaint in the lawsuit Revolution Wind, LLC v. United States Department of the Interior, Case No. 1:25-cv-02999-RCL, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Brief history:
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged 5 suspended projects, Dominion Energy, Don Hodel, TRO denied, US Dept. of the Interior on December 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »
District Judge Jamar Walker rejected Dominion Energy’s request for an immediate temporary restraining order (TRO) that would allow work on the suspended offshore wind projects to resume immediately.
The December 28 court ruling is consistent with the Department of the Interior’s position that the TRO request be converted to a request for a preliminary injunction. Interior had argued that a preliminary injunction motion could likely be resolved by mid-to-late-January.
The Government also asserted that more time is needed to submit the classified information that is central to the dispute.
Thoughts on this case: A respected colleague recalled this advice from Don Hodel, a widely admired Secretary of the Interior during the Reagan administration: “For all its faults, a contract is a contract, great men and great nations keep their word.”
Another colleague reminded me of the offshore North Carolina oil and gas leases that were suspended in the 1990s. The companies sued the Federal government for breach of contract, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 on June 26, 2000, in Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc. v. United States, that the government must repay the lessees.
If the suspended Atlantic wind leases are cancelled, the govt would presumably have to compensate lessees for lease purchase and development expenditures. The costs to the Federal govt would be enormous – in the tens of $billions.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged BOEM, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Department of the Interior, directed suspension, Dominion Energy, law suit on December 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Dominion’s suit challenging the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind suspension order is attached.
Summary: “BOEM’s order sets forth no rational basis, cannot be reconciled with BOEM’s own regulations and prior issued lease terms and approvals, is arbitrary and capricious, is procedurally deficient, violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”), and infringes upon constitutional principles that limit actions by the Executive Branch. This Court must therefore vacate the Order and enjoin BOEM from taking further action with respect to that Order.”
Key points raised by Dominion:
Dominion’s weakest argument follows (bad State legislation shouldn’t dictate Federal energy policy):
CVOW is critical to Virginia’s legislative clean energy directive and DEV’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions. The VCEA requires the transition of Virginia’s electric grid to 100 percent non-carbon producing energy generation by 2045. Va. Code § 56-585.5. The VCEA also states that the construction of Virginia offshore wind facilities is in the public interest. Va. Code § 56-585.1:11 (C)(1).
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged 5 suspended projects, BOEM, Offshore Wind, suspension letter on December 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Attached is the letter sent to operators of the 5 projects that have been suspended. The cited regulation reads as follows:
§ 585.417 When may BOEM order a suspension?
BOEM may order a suspension under the following circumstances:
(a) When necessary to comply with judicial decrees prohibiting some or all activities under your lease; or
(b)Â When the suspension is necessary for reasons of national security or defense.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, directed suspension, Dominion Energy, energy mandates, Thomas Jefferson Institute on December 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Excerpts from an excellent opinion piece by Derrick Max of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy:
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) is no ordinary renewable project. It was created by legislative command. The 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) declared Dominion’s 2.6-gigawatt wind farm “in the public interest,” effectively tying the hands of the State Corporation Commission and guaranteeing Dominion full cost recovery and profit. The risk doesn’t sit with shareholders — it sits with Virginia’s ratepayers.
The Thomas Jefferson Institute opposed that structure from the start. We warned that forcing captive customers to underwrite an unproven, high-cost project located in a hurricane prone region would expose Virginians to escalating bills with little accountability. Yet when a group recently asked the federal government to shut CVOW down, we declined to join. Why? Because government shouldn’t pick winners and losers — not when it mandates projects, and not when it stops them. Especially when a project is in its final stretch and no economic analysis of such a decision has been completed (or shared).Â
Virginia’s offshore wind story shows how risky it is when government drives energy decisions by decree. One administration mandates a massive buildout; the next halts it over security fears. Businesses can’t plan around that. Ratepayers shouldn’t have to pay for it.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged Atlantic wind, Empire Wind, leases suspended, Revolution Wind, Secretary Burgum, Sunrise Wind, Vineyard Wind, Virginia Offshore Wind on December 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The suspended leases are for Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind. (See the map below).These are the only Atlantic Wind projects under construction.
Given the $billions in expenditures to date and coastal State support for these projects, expect negotiated mitigations or litigation.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged Atlantic wind, leases suspended, national security, Secretary Burgum on December 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Posted in accidents, Offshore Wind, Regulation, energy policy, tagged Vineyard Wind, Nantucket, blade failure, MOU, penalties, accountability on December 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The attached Memorandum of Understanding between Vineyard Wind (VW) and the Town of Nantucket is long on bureaucratic procedures and short on risk mitigation and penalties.
The agreement details requirements for monthly reports, liaisons, written correspondence, plan reviews, and participation on incident management teams, but excludes any monetary penalties for past or future incidents. (With regard to penalties, should BSEE have assessed civil penalties for the 2024 turbine incident in accordance with 30 CFR § 285.400 (f)? This was a major pollution event.)
This MOU provision gives the impression that the Town is subordinate to VW:
“The Town will provide Vineyard Wind 1 up to 4 business days, if required, to identify and correct errors in the Town’s intended public communications about the Project.”
The responsible party should not be exercising oversight over the communications of an affected local government. Can you imagine Santa Barbara County reaching such an agreement with Sable Offshore?
Finally, the MOU further establishes the Town as a de facto partner in the project. VW, not the Town, is the responsible party and must be held fully accountable for project performance.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged Executive Order, Judge Saris, Offshore Wind, permitting moratorium on December 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Judge Patti Saris vacated part 2 of Trump’s 1/20/2025 “Wind Memo.” Part 1, which withdrew all OCS lands from wind leasing, was not in dispute. Part 2 suspended issuing wind energy permits and other authorizations.
The judge ruled (full order attached) that the suspension of wind permitting violates Administrative Procedures Act provisions requiring agencies “to proceed within a reasonable time and to set and complete proceedings expeditiously.”
She concluded further that “the moratorium halts all wind energy authorizations indefinitely, pending a comprehensive assessment with no timeline, which is inconsistent with statutory deadlines and general commands for prompt processing in laws like OCSLA, the Clean Water Act, and others governing wind projects.”
Although the judge’s assessment of the permitting moratorium seems sound, the merits of offshore wind as a primary energy source remain very much in doubt.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 