Wind Power News: New Jersey
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
N.J. amps up wind fight, overriding beach towns balking at farms
Offshore wind farm developers are finding one more thing in common with the fossil fuel industry: community backlash on both sides of the Atlantic. Much like the resistance to fracking in parts of the U.S. and the U.K., oceanfront towns have fought against power lines running ashore from wind farms, even as the massive turbines themselves are mostly out of sight. In a dramatic move Thursday, New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation that strips coastal communities of the . . . Complete story »
Murphy signs bill ending local control of wind power lines
New Jersey’s governor has signed a measure that would remove most local control from where and how offshore wind energy projects come ashore. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy announced the move in a prepared statement sent out Thursday night. Aside from granting local communities a public hearing on an offshore project that comes ashore in their town, the measure strips those communities and their elected officials of most, if not all control over where and how the project’s power lines and . . . Complete story »
Atlantic Winds offshore wind array will steer clear of LBI for now
Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind’s array of 111 turbines will be built in the southernmost portion of the company’s federal lease, 12 miles off Absecon Inlet, and probably will not be visible to Long Beach Island visitors during the summer tourist season. This was the upshot of a virtual open house held Tuesday, July 13. The open house consisted of a number of virtual rooms that participants could click on and enter on such subjects as visibility, environment, development and timeline, . . . Complete story »
Study says businesses will pay more for green energy
For many months, consumer advocates and business groups have unsuccessfully pressed the Murphy administration to assess what the state’s clean-energy goals will do to the cost of electricity in New Jersey. Now, one of the state’s largest business organizations, the Chemistry Council of New Jersey, has done its own in-house analysis on how those policies would impact its 45,000 members. For manufacturing firms, the industry group says its results project both a steep rise in energy bills for its commercial . . . Complete story »
Wind farm projects blowing in too fast for some
NEW JERSEY – In January 2020, Gov. Phil Murphy released New Jersey’s Energy Master Plan which lays out guidelines for 100 percent of the state’s energy to come from carbon-free renewable sources by 2050 (50 percent by 2030), which includes developing 7,500 megawatts of offshore wind energy generation by 2035. And when U.S. President Joseph R. Biden took office in January, one of his first actions addressed the rising climate crisis. The White House’s commitment to the environment and a . . . Complete story »
Without offshore wind, NJ faces billions in shoreline damage, officials argue
More than 100 New Jersey elected officials released a letter Tuesday supporting offshore wind projects along the coast, adding that doing nothing to address climate change would result in billions of dollars in losses to communities across the state. Elected Officials to Protect America – a network of former and current elected officials focused on environmental issues – organized the effort, saying offshore wind development will invigorate the state’s economy, provide thousands of jobs and reduce future impacts from climate change such . . . Complete story »
Wind advocates say offshore turbines will help NJ avoid climate ‘catastrophe’
More than 100 elected New Jersey officials issued a statement Tuesday in support of the state’s budding offshore-wind industry as opponents renewed their attacks on plans to build hundreds of wind turbines along the Shore. The group of 110 officials was brought together by the New Jersey chapter of Elected Officials to Protect America, a bipartisan climate-action organization that backs offshore wind power as a major source of carbon-emissions-free electricity. The group argues that by producing electricity without burning fossil . . . Complete story »
Windmills aren’t the answer to increasing energy needs
Fact: What was the book George Washington bought immediately after signing the Constitution? The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote. I had no idea Washington had such a great sense of humor. I feel a kindred spirit with the great man as I begin this letter to try to kill the windmills that could be forming on our horizons in a few years. In 2019, Michael Moore produced a movie called “Planet of the Humans,” exposing the alternative . . . Complete story »
Offshore wind allotments prompt strong reaction from proponents, opponents
The LBI Coalition of Wind Without Impact is pursing all avenues to stop the proposed Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind planned off the coast of Long Beach Island after the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities announced it had awarded the project 1,510 MW of capacity. The BPU’s June 30 decision also granted 1,148 MW to Ørsted’s Ocean Wind II project. Bob Stern, former director of environmental compliance for the U.S. Department of Energy and a founding member of the coalition, called the . . . Complete story »
Editor’s Log: #NJFORSALE
New Jersey is a “Home Rule” state. Very much like the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that gives states the constitutional authority to decide what’s best for their constituents, Home Rule is written into some state constitutions to allow towns and municipalities to govern themselves, so long as they don’t disobey existing constitutional provisions. In fast-tracking industrial windfarms off the Jersey Coast, the Murphy and Biden administrations have run into a constitutional snag at both the state and federal . . . Complete story »
