Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago — Attorney General Kwame Raoul today co-led a coalition of 19 attorneys general who moved to intervene in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and Secretary Pete Hegseth for unlawfully freezing routine reviews of land-based wind energy projects across the country. Federal law requires the DOD to review proposed wind projects for potential national security concerns and work with developers to address any issues. In August 2025, the DOD stopped moving projects through this process, blocking wind energy development nationwide. Attorney General Raoul and the coalition are asking the court to set aside the DOD’s unlawful freeze and order the agency to resume the review process required by federal law. 

“The Trump administration’s attempt to illegally freeze land-based wind energy projects will drive up the cost of electricity for consumers and threaten grid reliability during a period of growing demand for electricity,” Raoul said. “Wind energy is a key component in Illinois’ transition to a reliable, renewable energy future, and I will continue to fight President Trump’s attacks on it.”

Under federal law, land-based wind project developers must submit any proposed projects with wind turbines over 200 feet tall to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for review. The FAA then refers these projects to the DOD to assess whether they could affect military operations, radar systems, flight paths or national security. For more than a decade, the DOD has engaged in a predictable review process and worked with developers to mitigate potential concerns. Mitigation measures often included changes to turbine placement or height, radar upgrades, or agreements to pause generation under certain circumstances. 

In August 2025, DOD abruptly stopped following this process. Officials ceased countersigning mitigation agreements, stopped sending completed agreements to developers for signature, and delayed or halted communications with developers about mitigation. As a result, wind projects across the country have been frozen at various stages of the review process, including those that had already completed mitigation negotiations and were awaiting only final DOD approval. 

In Illinois, at least nine wind projects are being delayed by the DOD’s illegal freeze, representing at least $4.332 billion in private investment and putting around 10,664 jobs at risk. Illinois currently has a robust wind industry, with 13.46% of all electricity generated in 2024 coming from wind projects. Electricity demand is projected to rise sharply. New wind projects are essential sources of clean energy generation needed to meet that demand while complying with state laws and maintaining a cost-effective power supply and healthy environment for Illinois residents.

Raoul and the attorneys general assert that the DOD has not provided a reasonable explanation for its sudden change in policy, accounted for the harm to states, developers, workers and ratepayers, or considered the major investments made in reliance on its longstanding review process. The coalition argues that the DOD’s refusal to act is causing unreasonable delays and is undermining Congress’ directive that the DOD balance national security concerns with the responsible development of renewable energy. Attorney General Raoul and the coalition argue that DOD’s freeze violates the Administrative Procedure Act. They are asking the court to require the agency to resume reviewing and approving land-based wind projects.  

This is the latest action Raoul has taken to protect wind energy. In June, Raoul won his lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s prior illegal order to freeze all federal permitting for wind energy projects. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit dismissed the Trump administration’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that found the administration’s actions unlawful.

Attorney General Raoul co-led the coalition with the attorneys general of New York and Oregon. Joining them in intervening in this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Washington.