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A series of federal court rulings this week marked a turning point in the administration’s effort to halt offshore wind development.
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Good morning and happy Friday,

The wild Tilt-a-Whirl-on-steroids ride that is U.S. offshore wind continued this week, with the courts pushing back on the administration’s efforts to freeze construction on 7 GW of projects (more on this in Must Read, below). 

McKinsey & Co. released their latest assessment of the energy transition, and the findings aren’t particularly rosy – globally, emissions have risen 9% since 2015, although they’ve fallen in in EU and the U.S., and “less than 15% of the low-emissions capacity required [to reach] 2050 targets has been deployed to date.”

But not to worry – a Stanford professor calculates that the U.S. is only 97 years behind China in terms of reaching 100% renewable energy, with the Middle Kingdom on track to achieve this goal by 2051. Driving this point home, “Goldwind claimed a new global wind power milestone after installing a 20 MW turbine in the seas off China.”

And, if “A-CAES” isn’t already in your clean energy vocabulary, you might want to add it. Advanced compressed air energy storage is the long-duration energy storage technology used by Hydrostor, and the company’s proposed 500 MW / 4,000 MWh Willow Rock underground compressed-air energy storage project – the largest in the U.S. and one of only a few in the world – received a key approval from California regulators last month. 

Read on for more.

The Courts Strike Back


A series of federal court rulings this week marked a turning point in the administration’s effort to halt offshore wind development, as judges allowed construction to resume on two nearly completed East Coast projects. While the broader legal fight continues, the decisions signal growing judicial skepticism of the administration’s national security rationale for the sweeping stop-work order issued late last year. Here’s what’s happening:

  • On Jan. 12, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth granted Ørsted an injunction allowing Revolution Wind (CT-RI) to resume construction while litigation proceeds, rejecting the Interior Department’s opaque national security justification while citing “irreparable harm” and lack of due process. The 700-MW project is nearly 90% complete. Documents have revealed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum personally ordered an earlier August halt, underscoring political involvement in the case.

  • On Jan. 15, Judge Carl Nichols ruled that Equinor’s Empire Wind (NY) project could restart construction, finding the Interior Department’s stop-work order would cause “irreparable harm” to the $5 billion project, which is about 60% complete. The court noted the administration failed to explain how construction itself posed a national security threat.

  • A total of five projects – the above, as well as Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (VA) , Sunrise Wind (NY), and Vineyard Wind 1 (MA) – remain subject to the December stop-work orders. CVOW developer Dominion Energy Virginia is also suing and asked a judge to block the order, calling it “arbitrary and capricious” and unconstitutional; its hearing is Friday, Jan. 16.

⚡️ The Takeaway


No rational relationship. In related news, a federal court has ruled that the administration’s October 2025 move to cancel more than $7.5 billion in awards covering over 220 clean energy projects across 16 states was unlawful, concluding the cuts were politically motivated and violated constitutional protections. Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that the Department of Energy lacked authority to claw back funds already obligated to projects and violated the Fifth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause by targeting grants in Democratic-led states. He found that there was “no rational relationship” between the location-based cuts and the agency’s stated policy goals. The court cited public statements showing the administration spared similar projects in Republican-led states, including hydrogen hubs in Texas and West Virginia.

Testing the Trifecta


Virginia’s 2026 General Assembly kicked off a breakneck, 60-day legislative session this week under a new Democratic trifecta. Energy and the environment are poised to take center stage with advocacy groups “laying out policies they want to see garner lawmakers’ support,” advancing a coordinated agenda aimed at controlling electricity costs while modernizing the grid and strengthening environmental protections. Here are some emerging priorities:

  • Lawmakers are framing affordability as the central driver of this year’s energy agenda, with proposals focusing on expanding utility efficiency and weatherization programs for low-income households, increasing transparency around service disconnections, and extending long-term funding commitments for assistance programs.

  • Advocacy groups and the Commission of Electric Utility Regulation are calling for performance-based utility regulation, improved oversight of integrated resource plans, and more accurate load forecasting as electricity demand accelerates – particularly from data centers.

  • Policymakers are also weighing new review and approval processes for large electricity users, requiring long-term cost commitments and exploring voluntary financing of generation or grid upgrades. The goal is to ensure large loads pay their share and do not drive higher costs for residential customers.

  • Democrats are advancing bills to speed interconnection of clean energy projects, expand battery storage targets, and better utilize existing transmission capacity. Proponents argue these measures offer a faster, lower-cost alternative to new fossil fuel generation while supporting grid reliability.

⚡️ The Takeaway


Buckle up and stay tuned. With affordability concerns, rapid data center growth, and clean energy commitments converging, lawmakers and advocacy groups are focused on balancing affordability, infrastructure demands, and Virginia’s long-term clean energy goals, as the state navigates unprecedented growth in electricity consumption. In parallel, environmental groups are pushing to sustain investments in water quality, flood resilience, and pollution reduction, even amid tighter budget conditions. Together, these initiatives signal an eventful two months ahead.



The Tokamak’s Back 🔥


Almost a year ago we told you about China’s leading fusion project, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which at the time had just set a hot new record by keeping its fusion drive running for more than 1,000 seconds.


Well, EAST’s tokamak is back in the headlines with another record-breaking achievement: this time, it maintained a temperature of 158 million degrees Fahrenheit for 1,056 seconds, which “brings scientists a small yet significant step closer to the creation of a source of near-unlimited clean energy.”





Often called the “artificial sun,” EAST’s latest sizzling accomplishment is noteworthy because researchers were able to keep the plasma stable at densities 1.3 to 1.65 times the Greenwald Limit, “a density limit...beyond which plasma typically becomes unstable.” This allowed EAST to enter a theorized “density-free regime,” in which plasma remains stable even as density increases – an important step toward reducing the energy needed for fusion ignition.


Insights from EAST will inform the design and operation of next-generation experimental reactors, including ITER, the international fusion project under construction in France. ITER aims to demonstrate sustained, large-scale fusion reactions and is expected to begin full operations around 2039. Continued research will focus on achieving fusion ignition and eventually net energy gain.


While fusion is unlikely to address near-term climate challenges, these advances strengthen the long-term case for fusion as a virtually limitless, carbon-free energy source with minimal waste, potentially transforming global power systems later this century.
Thanks for diving into the Developer Dispatch with us.
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