Dominion Energy Sues to Overturn BOEM Stop Work Order, Seeks Relief

Dominion Energy Virginia and its project affiliate OSW Project LLC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division on December 26, 2025, asking the court to vacate a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management stop work order and to enjoin enforcement while the litigation proceeds. The plaintiffs also moved for a temporary restraining order to immediately lift the suspension of construction activity on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind commercial project.

BOEM issued the stop work order earlier this month, pausing construction on CVOW and four other large scale East Coast offshore wind projects as part of what federal officials described as a review to reassess national security concerns. The Department of the Interior has said the review could last up to 90 days and will consider potential radar interference from turbine blades and towers among other issues.

In its complaint Dominion characterizes the directive as arbitrary and capricious and unconstitutional, asking the court to set it aside. Court filings assert that halting work now threatens the project schedule, could prevent later construction phases from proceeding, and raises the prospect that the commercial project cannot be completed on time. Dominion quantified immediate losses associated with the pause at more than five million dollars per day, attributing those losses to vessel services, idle crews, equipment storage and contractual penalties tied to suspended operations. The company urged the court to block the stop work order to avoid further mounting damages and project disruptions.

Staging activity for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project has been reported at the Portsmouth Marine terminal in Portsmouth, Virginia, where turbine bases, generators and blades and support ships were positioned as part of preparations. The administration pause affected five East Coast projects that together are capable of powering nearly 2.7 million homes, a scale that underscores how the dispute extends beyond a single site.

The litigation comes amid a broader wave of legal challenges by developers to federal decisions that pause or limit renewable energy projects. The Dominion suit frames that dispute as a clash between national security reviews and commitments to deploy clean energy at scale. The case will test the degree of deference courts afford agency judgments about security driven pauses, and whether those judgments can be reconciled with statutory and contractual obligations held by developers.

Beyond legal arguments, the pause carries public health and community implications. Delays in building large scale renewable energy capacity can prolong reliance on fossil fuel generation, with consequences for air quality and respiratory health in nearby communities. Local economies that had prepared for manufacturing, staging and maritime support work face uncertain weeks ahead, and port dependent jobs may be idled even as contractual costs accumulate. Coastal and industrial communities that have historically carried greater pollution burdens stand to lose sooner benefits from cleaner electricity and local employment.

Dominion asked the court to issue immediate injunctive relief, and the case will remain in the Eastern District of Virginia while further filings and the government response are filed. The court’s decision on the temporary restraining order will determine whether construction activity can resume during the review period, a ruling with consequences for project timelines, local economies and broader U.S. clean energy goals.