NJSBN attended the recent “Powering the Future” event hosted by Jersey Renews. The conference’s theme iterated by keynote speaker Dan Fatton, the New Jersey Economic Development Agency’s Director of Clean Energy, was that “offshore wind is not dead.”
Offshore wind has suffered many setbacks recently. This month alone, New Jersey, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities terminated the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) for Atlantic Shores, a proposed two-phase wind farm between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light with 197 wind turbines capable of powering one million homes. Atlantic Shores requested back in June that New Jersey do so, stating the projects were “no longer viable,” but called it a “temporary pause”. In addition, a delay of the Second State Agreement Approach was announced, meaning improvements to the Larabee substation will be delayed by two years. And at the federal level, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced it was pulling funding for all offshore wind- related grants including $20.5 million for Paulsboro (where monopiles are being manufactured). The Department of Energy terminated a $716M loan guarantee that would have helped fund the New Jersey Clean Energy Corridor, a transmission upgrade project of JCP&L’s that would have helped connect offshore wind to the grid. Further, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced their decision to rescind the five-year offshore wind leasing schedule as a direct final rule, and stated their plan that the rule “will become effective unless significant adverse comment is received.” NJSBN signed-on to the comment.
However, Fatton highlighted the fact that the offshore wind industry is putting lots of people to work in good jobs in multiple states. Transmission projects are moving forward and each project has hundreds of contracts. The State of New Jersey has more than one thousand companies that want to work in offshore wind on its registry. And in the Next New Jersey Manufacturing Act, signed by the Governor this month, there was a $100 million carveout of tax incentives for clean energy manufacturing.
Later in the day, Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition Executive Director Evan Vaughn argued that offshore wind will be a key element in handling load growth. The elimination of barriers that shorten the runway to market and coordinate technical developments are efforts that are going on behind the scenes now. Investing in transmission proactively will create savings and help with the affordability crisis. He added that offshore wind should not be a political football, but should be seen as providing more choice for New Jersey. It is clear that the cheapest portfolio is one that is largely diverse; one that includes offshore wind.
NJSBN is a state affiliate of the American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN).
“Our affiliation with ASBN enhances NJSBN’s credibility with New Jersey policymakers, business leaders, and members of the media. The ongoing ability to engage with ASBN and its network helps us to better serve our members as we work together to influence positive systemic change at the state level.”
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