Tag Archives: New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
Cape May County Ends Litigation Over Failed Wind Energy Project
Cape May County has ended its legal battle against a proposed offshore wind energy farm after the state and federal agencies that had supported the project admitted it is “dead and will not be coming back to life.” The county had filed state and federal lawsuits to block the wind farm proposed by the Danish energy company Orsted 15 miles off the coast between Atlantic City and Stone Harbor. In the suits, the county alleged that the project would have caused far-reaching economic and environmental harm to the tourism industry, commercial fishing, migratory birds and marine life such as dolphins and whales. “By Orsted’s own calculation, Cape May County was facing a loss of over $1 billion in tourism revenue. Our fisheries industry was facing millions of dollars in losses. Marine mammals and other sea life were threatened with injury and harassment,” Cape May County Board of Commissioners Director Leonard Desiderio said in a news release Monday announcing the end of the ligation. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< Congratulations! 13:12
Jersey Strong Coastal Coalition – New coalition of municipalities opposes New Jersey’s offshore wind projects. Thank You.
A coalition of more than 40 municipalities and organizations across New Jersey has formed to oppose the state’s large-scale offshore wind energy projects, citing concerns over rising costs to ratepayers and potential environmental impacts. The newly established Jersey Strong Coastal Coalition (JSCC) is calling on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to reject new contracts for two major wind energy projects being developed by Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind LLC, a joint venture between Shell Oil and Électricité de France. The coalition sent a letter this week to the BPU, warning of significant rate increases and outlining legal violations they argue would occur if the projects proceed. The two projects, involving 200 wind turbines with plans for 100 more, are slated for construction just 8.4 miles off the New Jersey coast. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:06
New Jersey hits pause on an offshore wind farm that can’t find turbine blades
New Jersey hit the pause button Wednesday on an offshore wind energy project that is having a hard time finding someone to manufacture blades for its turbines. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities granted Leading Light Wind a pause on its project through Dec. 20 while its developers seek a source for the crucial components. The project, from Chicago-based Invenergy and New York-based energyRE, would be built 40 miles (65 kilometers) off Long Beach Island and would consist of up to 100 turbines, enough to power 1 million homes. Leading Light was one of two projects that the state utilities board chose in January. But just three weeks after that approval, one of three major turbine manufacturers, GE Vernova, said it would not announce the kind of turbine Invenergy planned to use in the Leading Light Project, according to the filing with the utilities board. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:23
New Jersey Residents opposing power cables: Don’t make us Guinea Pigs
When wind power is generated, it needs to go somewhere. And residents of southern Monmouth County say right now, they’re in the line of fire, as plans call for much of the energy produced by an offshore wind project — located nowhere near the county’s coast — to come ashore in Monmouth County and run underneath a handful of municipalities. “I think we still have time to fight this,” said Glenn Hughes, a founding member of the group Stop the High-Risk Power Cables. According to locals, contractors have already begun visiting the area to finalize their bids for a project to install the wind power transmission cables underground. The bids are due by the end of September. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:06
Van Drew Holds Third Hearing on ‘Offshore Wind Industrialization’
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02), supported by U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (PA-10), held a field hearing in Brigantine on Tuesday, Aug. 13, to continue his public opposition to the Garden State’s efforts to build large offshore wind farms off the New Jersey coast. Brigantine Mayor Vince Sera played host for the hearing and introduced the event by calling offshore wind “one of the most important issues facing us on the East Coast.” He said state and federal officials pushing the offshore wind agenda “lied to us” in order to move ahead with projects that “make no sense.” Sera’s remarks set the tone of a meeting that was uniformly against the current offshore wind agenda. Picking up on those remarks Van Drew described the long oceanfront along the New Jersey coast as “a gift from God,” which he asserted is being squandered so a few people can make money off it. “That is what this is all about,” Van Drew added. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:57
Nils Stolpe: It’s not the fault of the wind industry??? Sophistry is the use of fallacious arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving.
The “We’re for ocean wind power, the Hell with the rest of the oceans” claque have been yammering their “it’s not the fault of the wind industry” chant ever since an unprecedented number of whales and dolphins started washing up on New York and New Jersey beaches. Since December of this past year, when each of these incidents (was?) turned into a media event, it has been inevitably accompanied by some government (from Washington or Trenton) official, some (oddly enough, almost assuredly Democratic) legislator, some presumed objective scientist (doing an on-camera or recorded interview) with his or her hand held out for her or his share of what are very likely going to be billions of state, federal or wind industry research dollars, or some so-called environmentalist with the same goal. Just about all of them are insistently proclaiming “there is no proof that sonar testing (or any other testing being done by/for the wind industry) kills whales and/or dolphins.” >click to read< 18:55
Cape May County to fight Ørsted, Ocean Wind 1, 2
“At first, the County of Cape May was interested in trying to work with Ørsted to find a way forward, perhaps with some modifications to the project to reduce visual, environmental and economic impacts,” Commission Director Len Desiderio said in a release issued by the county. “We would like to see land-based offshore wind facilities and supply-chain infrastructure built here in New Jersey, since that would create good opportunities for trade workers and others. But we cannot sit quietly by as hundreds of windmills are installed off our beaches as state and federal government agencies ignore our legitimate and serious concerns. “As time went by, it became clear that Ørsted was not interested in finding any compromise,” Desiderio said. “It is clear to us now that the approach among this foreign corporation and their partners in the state and federal governments is to build these things as fast as they can despite the potential for devastating environmental and economic impacts. >click to read< 09:42
Ocean City, Wind Farm Developer Clash in Legal Fight
The Danish energy company Orsted, which plans to build the Ocean Wind project, filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court on May 4 demanding that Ocean City should grant the permits needed for the underground transmission line. In response to the lawsuit, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian issued a statement strongly criticizing Orsted. “The lawsuit continues a pattern that Ocean Wind presumes the offshore wind project is a done deal and they will resort to any means to maintain their desired schedule,” Gillian said. >click to read< 14:50
Brigantine residents express concerns about offshore wind projects
Having clean energy as a renewable resource may sound nice, but residents still have questions and concerns about the offshore wind projects planned just off the island’s coast, which is why the mayor held an informational meeting last weekend. Ørsted’s offshore wind farms, which are expected to have 98 wind turbines roughly 15 miles off the coast, are scheduled to be completed by 2024. Meanwhile, 111 Atlantic Shores offshore wind turbines are expected to be operational 10 miles off Brigantine by 2027. Many residents said the cons outweigh the pros. “I’m just trying to figure out the positives in this,” said resident Mary Anne Ford. “The pro column is a big blank slate.” >click to read< 07:21
100s of offshore wind farm turbines greenlighted for New Jersey coast – Groucho Marx is all in!
Two wind farm projects were approved, and would provide enough power for 1.1 million homes,,, sure they will! The two projects are a 110-turbine wind farm by Atlantic Shores, which is owned by European power companies Shell New Energies US and EDF Renewables North America, and a 82-turbine farm by Ørsted called Ocean Wind 2. Atlantic Shores’ farm will be located about 10.5 miles off the coast of shore towns north of Atlantic City. Ørsted’s Ocean Wind 2 will be nearly 14 miles off Cape May. >click to read< – If Wind Farm Is Constructed You May Soon Forget It Is There – I’m going to have to buy Groucho Marx glasses, complete with a large nose, mustache and huge eyebrows, to dare show my face on LBI after writing this column. But stupid or brave, here I go. I support the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind proposal,,, Better wind than fossil fuels or nuclear. Natural gas pipelines can blow up; as for nuclear, I have only six words – Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. Do you remember when the Ocean County Health Department used to distribute potassium iodide pills in case of an incident at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station? Stupidity abounds. >click to read< Bill Gates says you’re all wrong! Game Changer: Bill Gates Backs Safe & Reliable Next Generation Nuclear Power Plants – >click to read<
Fishermen’s Energy Loses Appeal, Will Go to State Supreme Court
Last week, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court ruled against Fishermen’s Energy in its claim that the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities wrongly denied approval of its wind power project off the coast of Atlantic City. On Friday, Chris Wissemann, chief executive officer of Fishermen’s Energy, said in a press release, “We are disappointed by this decision. The project meets the spirit and letter of the Offshore Wind Development Act, bringing jobs and investment into the state and improving the environment.” Read the rest here 19:40
Offshore Wind Advocates Want Feds to Delay Leasing Tracts Off Jersey Coast
Letter warns governor, legislators that untimely leases could hurt NJ’s offshore wind industry. Read more@njspotlight 10:50
