Lawsuits could delay the start of New Jersey's first offshore wind ... - The Associated Press
Lawsuits could delay the start of New Jersey's first offshore wind power project | AP News
Lawsuits could delay the start of New Jersey’s first offshore wind power project
A huge foundation for an offshore wind turbine, called a monopile, sits atop wheeled movers in Paulsboro, N.J., Thursday, July 6, 2023. A tangle of litigation is delaying the start of New Jersey’s first offshore wind energy project, as developer Orsted is suing governments to stop delaying necessary permits, and citizens groups try to halt the project altogether. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)ASSOCIATED PRESS
A huge foundation for an offshore wind turbine, called a monopile, sits atop wheeled movers in Paulsboro, N.J., Thursday, July 6, 2023. A tangle of litigation is delaying the start of New Jersey’s first offshore wind energy project, as developer Orsted is suing governments to stop delaying necessary permits, and citizens groups try to halt the project altogether. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A huge foundation for an offshore wind turbine, called a monopile, sits in a construction facility in Paulsboro, N.J., Thursday, July 6, 2023. A tangle of litigation is delaying the start of New Jersey’s first offshore wind energy project, as developer Orsted is suing governments to stop delaying necessary permits, and citizens groups try to halt the project altogether. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
OCEAN CITY, N.J. (AP) — A tangle of litigation could delay the start of New Jersey’s first offshore wind energy project, as developer Orsted is suing governments to stop delaying necessary permits, and citizens groups try to halt the project altogether.
The latest in a fast-growing thicket of litigation came July 3 when Danish wind power developer Orsted sued Cape May County, alleging the government is dragging its feet in issuing a road permit needed to do test work along the route a power cable would run.
The company is also suing the city of Ocean City over similar delays to the project, which the federal government has endorsed as a significant piece in the White House’s efforts to “jump-start the offshore wind industry across the country,” in order to tackle the catastrophic effects of climate change.
Last month, three citizens groups opposed to offshore wind— Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach, and Protect Our Coast NJ — filed an appeal of New Jersey’s determination that the Ocean Wind I project is consistent with state coastal management rules.
And one of those groups, Save Long Beach Island, is also suing a federal agency, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, over its creation of offshore wind lease sites off the coast of New Jersey.
Orsted is turning to the courts to try to end government inertia that could threaten its goal to begin construction in the fall.
Its lawsuit against Cape May County claims the delay in issuing a road work permit has already delayed the project. The state Board of Public Utilities in February issued an order saying the proposed cable route is necessary for the project to proceed, and in March authorized an easement on county-owned property for the work to take place.
But the county, which opposes the project and has voted to do everything it can to stop it, has yet to acknowledge the easement. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Maddy Urbish, an Orsted official, declined to comment on the lawsuit other than to say, “Ocean Wind I remains committed to collaboration with local communities, and will continue working to support New Jersey’s clean energy targets and economic development goals by bringing good-paying jobs and local investment to the Garden State.”
Orsted has all the major approvals it needs to build Ocean Wind I, a 98-turbine wind farm about 15 miles off the coasts of Atlantic City and Ocean City. It still requires a number of lesser permits and approvals from local, state and federal authorities.
Earlier this month, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law giving Orsted a tax break, allowing it to keep federal tax credits it otherwise would have had to return to New Jersey ratepayers.
Almost immediately afterward, the developer of another proposed New Jersey offshore wind farm, Atlantic Shores, said it, too, wants financial assistance for its project. Murphy said he is “open-minded” about that request.
Orsted also has approval from New Jersey regulators to build a second wind farm, Ocean Wind II, although that project is not as far along in the approval process as Ocean Wind I.
The projects also face substantial political opposition, mostly from Republicans, who blame site preparation work for the deaths of 53 whales along the U.S. East coast since December. But three federal and one state agency all say there is no evidence linking offshore wind preparation to the whale deaths.
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Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.