NJ uses new law to bypass local rejection of offshore wind project

OCEAN CITY, N.J. >> New Jersey utility regulators used a controversial law Friday enabling them to bypass local authorities and grant approvals needed for an offshore wind project to proceed.

The state Board of Public Utilities granted Orsted, the Danish wind energy developer, approvals toward several easements and permits that authorities in Cape May County had refused to grant the company.

They used an amendment to New Jersey's offshore wind law passed in 2021 and signed into law by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy removing most local control over where offshore wind projects come ashore. The law enables an offshore wind developer to apply to the utilities board for an order superseding local control over such projects.

“I just want to assure the public that we don't take these kinds of actions lightly,” said Joseph Fiordaliso, the board's president. “There has to be a definite public need for the board to even consider this kind of action. This is something that the majority of us believes will benefit the citizens of New Jersey.”

Fiordaliso said the route of the proposed transmission line will not harm Ocean City or Cape May County aesthetically or economically. The power cable will run from wind turbines that the company says will be located 15 miles offshore and come ashore in Ocean City, where it will run underground along existing roadways and connect to the electrical grid at the site of the former B.L. England power plant in Upper Township.

The vote marked the second time the board acted under the amended law to grant approvals to Orsted when local officials had refused to do so. In September 2022, the board granted the company an order superseding the authority of Ocean City in granting numerous wetlands and other environmental approvals for the same project.

Commissioner Dianne Solomon voted against the measure Friday, calling it “clearly a contentious matter,” adding she believes the board erred in overriding Ocean City's authority in September.

“We should be seeking more information, not less,” she said.

In its petition to the board, Ocean Wind said it had tried numerous times to obtain approvals directly from Cape May County officials.

“After all the discussions, meetings, and letters exchanged by Ocean Wind and Cape May County, there has been no indication that the county will voluntarily provide Ocean Wind with any of the necessary approvals or consents for environmental permitting, or the required easements,” the applicants wrote.

The project, one of three approved so far for the waters off southern New Jersey, still needs numerous additional state and federal approvals.