California Attorney General Rob Bonta says a 19-attorney-general coalition wants to intervene in litigation challenging the U.S. Department of Defense's alleged freeze on land-based wind energy project reviews.
What happened
California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general Thursday seeking to intervene in Renewable Northwest et al. v. Hegseth et al., a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Defense's handling of land-based wind energy project reviews.
The coalition says federal law requires DoD to review proposed wind projects for potential national security concerns and work with developers to resolve them, but that the department stopped moving projects through that process in August 2025. The attorneys general filed a motion to intervene and a complaint in intervention asking the court to set aside the alleged freeze and order DoD to resume the review process, according to the California Attorney General's Office.
Bonta said the states are asking the court to order DoD to "resume the review process of onshore wind energy projects." The press release says developers of land-based wind projects with turbines over 200 feet tall must submit projects to the Federal Aviation Administration, which refers them to DoD to assess possible effects on military operations, radar systems or flight paths.
According to the release, DoD for more than a decade used a predictable review process and worked with developers on mitigation measures such as turbine placement changes, height adjustments, radar upgrades or agreements to pause generation under certain circumstances. The release says DoD stopped countersigning mitigation agreements, stopped sending completed agreements to developers for signature and delayed or halted mitigation communications.
The attorneys general contend the alleged freeze violates the Administrative Procedure Act as arbitrary and capricious because DoD has not reasonably explained the policy change, accounted for harm to states, developers, workers and ratepayers, or considered investments made in reliance on the prior process. They also argue DoD's refusal to act is causing unreasonable delay and undermines Congress' directive to balance national security concerns with renewable energy development.
California says at least one onshore wind project in the state is being held up by the challenged freeze, threatening private investment and construction jobs. The coalition includes the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.