Dominion Energy can restart work on the installation of a large offshore wind project now that a judge in the United States Eastern District of Virginia has granted a preliminary injunction against the Department of Interior.
“The Court finds that Plaintiffs Dominion Energy and OSW Project LLC are likely to prevail on the merits of their claim,” reads the order filed January 16.
On December 22, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued an order suspending activity of Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind initiative and four other projects in the Atlantic Ocean. The federal government argued that such installations are a threat to national security.
The order stopped construction of 176 wind turbines and three 4,300-ton off shore stations about 27 miles off shore intended to generate 2.6 gigawatts of electricity upon completion.
Dominion filed suit the next day seeking a temporary restraining order against the order claiming it violated the Administrative Procedures Act.
Attorneys for the BOEM argued that their information was based on classified information that they did not have to share with Dominion or any other plaintiffs.
Just after Christmas, Judge Jamar Walker agreed to give the Department of Interior more time to share the information with the court and converted Dominion’s request to one seeking a preliminary injunction.
Judge Walker ruled in favor of dominion and stayed BOEM’s December 22 order.
“Dominion has also demonstrated it would likely suffer irreparable harm absent a preliminary injunction and that the public interest and balance of equities favor such a relief,” the order continues.
“Our team will now focus on safely restarting work to ensure CVOW begins delivery of critical energy in just weeks,” reads a release on the Dominion website. “While our legal challenge proceeds, we will continue seeking a durable resolution of this matter through cooperation with the federal government.”
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