The Trump administration has temporarily pulled the plug on five large-scale offshore wind projects, including the Vineyard Wind 1 wind farm off the coast of Nantucket.

Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum made the announcement that freezes the East Coast projects due to national security risks identified by the Pentagon.

The announcement sent Gov. Maura Healey into a fury and MassFiscal saying it will save rate payers on their bills.

“Energy costs are already too high. It makes absolutely no sense for the Trump Administration to halt construction on a project that is bringing more affordable energy to our region. This puts people out of work during the holidays,” Healey said on social media.

Not everyone agrees, though.

Secretary Burgum announced all offshore wind project construction will be paused, citing national security concerns. MassFiscal’s Paul Craney said “Secretary Burgum is also right to note the high cost of offshore wind electricity.”

Along with Vineyard Wind1, the other projects halted include:

Revolution Wind, under construction off the coast of Rhode Island, 15 nautical miles southeast of Point Judith.
CVOW, or the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, is located about 24 nautical miles off the coast of Virginia Beach.
Sunrise Wind is located roughly 30 miles off the coast of New York’s Montauk Point; and,
Empire Wind off the Long Island coast.

Burgum knocked all the projects, calling them “the most expensive electricity being produced in our country.”

Healey pointed out the wind project off Nantucket accounts for “nearly 4,000 jobs,” which puts people “out of work during the holidays.”

She added: “Donald Trump should be embracing an all-of-the-above approach to American energy, not shutting down critical sources like wind. It is dangerous to halt construction in the middle of a project, and I will stand up against this unlawful action by the Trump Administration to protect Massachusetts’ ratepayers and workers.”

Vineyard Wind — located 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket — claims it is building the nation’s “first utility-scale offshore wind energy project” that could power 400,000 homes and businesses … while reducing carbon emissions by over 1.6 million tons per year.”

Craney added the cost is the culprit.

“Massachusetts and New England ratepayers desperately need inexpensive, clean, reliable, American natural gas to help drive down costs, not more expensive offshore wind energy and arbitrary climate mandates,” he said.

The administration said the pause will give the Interior Department, which oversees offshore wind, time to work with the Defense Department and other agencies to assess the possible ways to mitigate any security risks posed by the projects. The statement did not detail the national security risks. It called the move a pause, but did not specify an end date.

The Interior Department said unclassified reports from the U.S. government have long found that the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers create radar interference called “clutter.” The clutter caused by offshore wind projects can obscure legitimate moving targets and generate false targets in the vicinity of wind projects, the Interior Department said.

This all hits as Healey has changed her position on the two natural gas pipelines she stopped as Attorney General, as energy costs continue to soar and strengthen its grip on the Bay State.

Healey was recently asked about her stoppage of two pipelines – to be built and operated by energy infrastructure giants Kinder Morgan and Access Northeast – when she was attorney general. The governor acknowledged that she stopped the pipelines because they were a “lousy deal.”

“They were a lousy deal for ratepayers and I’ve got to stand up for people in Massachusetts. I thought it was wrong for ratepayers, people, residents, taxpayers in Massachusetts to foot the bill for those pipelines, instead of the pipeline companies,” Healey said.

The pipeline topic has become a political football with the Massachusetts Democratic Party slamming the three Republican gubernatorial candidates for what they call “hypocrisy” regarding criticism and the GOP candidates accusing the governor of “gaslighting” voters.

All as the winter chill sets in and bills soar.

Associated Press and State House News Service material was used in this report.

Gov. Maura Healey is slamming the administration for stopping wind farm projects. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)