The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of two legal challenges to the Vineyard Wind 1 project (the Project). On April 24 and April 25, 2024, the same panel of First Circuit judges issued opinions in Nantucket Residents Against Offshore Wind (ACKRATS) v. BOEM and in Melone v. Coit, affirming the Massachusetts district court’s decisions to grant summary judgment in favor of the federal government on the grounds that federal agencies properly considered the Project’s impacts on the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The decisions are the first federal appellate victories for Vineyard Wind 1, which is currently under construction offshore of Massachusetts. Once complete, Vineyard Wind 1 is expected to generate up to 800 megawatts of renewable energy.
