Attorney General Kris Mayes (D-AZ) is taking the Department of Defense (DoD) to court over what she calls an unlawful freeze on wind energy project reviews, a halt that has stalled clean energy development across the country, including a major project in Arizona.
Mayes joined a coalition of 18 other attorneys general this week in moving to intervene in a lawsuit against the DoD and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, arguing the department illegally stopped processing routine national security reviews of land-based wind energy projects in August 2025 without explanation.
"DoD's abrupt and unexplained freeze on wind energy reviews is putting jobs and investments at risk in Arizona," Mayes said. "We're asking the court to force DoD to follow the law and get this process moving again."
The Process
Here's how the process is supposed to work: federal law requires developers of wind turbines over 200 feet tall to submit their projects to the Federal Aviation Administration, which then refers them to the DoD to assess potential impacts on military operations, radar systems, and flight paths.
For more than a decade, DoD engaged in a predictable back-and-forth with developers, working through concerns and agreeing on mitigation measures like adjusting turbine placement or upgrading radar systems.
That all stopped in August 2025. DoD had abruptly ceased countersigning mitigation agreements, halted communications with developers, and stopped moving projects through the review pipeline, even those that had already completed negotiations and were simply waiting for final approval.
The result has been a nationwide freeze on wind energy development with no explanation offered.
In Arizona, the stalled project is the Black Ridge Renewable Project in Apache County, an investment that Mayes says represents real jobs and economic opportunity for the region.
The coalition argues DoD's freeze violates the Administrative Procedure Act by being arbitrary, unexplained, and contrary to Congress's direction that the department balance national security concerns with responsible renewable energy development. They are asking the court to declare the freeze unlawful and order DoD to resume the review process.
