Jan 9 (Reuters) - New York's attorney general sued the

Trump administration on Friday for suspending construction on

two major offshore wind projects that the state says it needs to

power 1 million homes and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

In ‌two separate lawsuits, New York Attorney General Letitia

James is asking a federal court in Washington to ​block U.S.

President Donald Trump's December 22 freeze on federal offshore

leases held by ‍Norway's Equinor ( EQNR ) and Denmark's Orsted

.

The Interior Department has said ⁠it paused the ⁠projects due

to complaints by the Pentagon that wind turbines cause radar

interference that can make it hard ‌to identify security

threats.

"New Yorkers deserve clean, reliable ​energy, good-paying

jobs, and a government that follows the law," James said in a

statement. "These projects were carefully reviewed and already

under construction ⁠when the federal government pulled the ‍plug

without explanation. ​This reckless decision puts workers,

families, and our climate goals at risk, and my office is taking

action to stop it."

James, an elected Democrat, ‍is one of the Republican president's

top political antagonists.

Equinor ( EQNR ) and Orsted have faced repeated setbacks to their

offshore wind developments under Trump, who has said wind

turbines are ugly, costly and inefficient.

Both offshore wind developers have filed their own lawsuits

against Interior on behalf of their multibillion-dollar New York

projects, Empire Wind and ​Sunrise ‍Wind.

Equinor's ( EQNR ) Empire Wind has warned in court papers that it faces

likely termination if it cannot restart construction by January

16 and has asked ​a federal judge in Washington for a preliminary

injunction. A hearing on that request will take place next week.

Orsted has sued on behalf of Sunrise Wind and another project,

Revolution Wind, which is being built off the coast of Rhode

Island. The company in September succeeded in getting a federal

judge to block a separate Trump administration stop-work order

on ​Revolution Wind.

The Interior Department's pause on offshore wind leases also

affects Avangrid's Vineyard Wind project off the coast of

Massachusetts and Dominion Energy's ( D ) Coastal Virginia

Offshore Wind facility.