The future of Atlantic County’s economy could be at significant risk from the impacts of offshore wind projects and the industrialization of our ocean.
Projects closest to our coast – Atlantic Shores and Orsted’s Ocean Wind (permit still active) – will build 566 highly visible, giant wind turbines starting 9 miles off our beaches; 357 will be 1,040 feet high, and 209 will be 906 feet high.
In addition to the projects adjacent to our coast, another group of six offshore wind development projects is planned directly east of the ones next to our coastline in an area known as the New York Bight. These developers are planning to build 549 more turbines starting 27 miles off the coast at an even greater height of 1,312 feet. That is a total of 1,115 industrial wind turbines off of our South Jersey coast in our pristine ocean.
Over the last year it was telling how the elected leadership in Cape May County and Atlantic County dealt with the planned wind turbine developments off their coasts, which will have an extreme economic impact on the future of our communities.
Cape May County’s leadership saw the potential negative impact of the offshore wind developments on their economy. They educated themselves, their local elected officials, and their public. They hired experts and legal counsel, sued the organizations behind these projects, and fought courageously against the wind development off their coast. Interestingly, Orsted subsequently suspended operations off of the coast of Cape May County.
Atlantic County addressed the offshore wind developments quite differently. In February of 2023, a large number of concerned citizens attended an Atlantic County Commissioners meeting when a decision on an offshore wind resolution was to be made. Based on the Commissioners’ comments to the public, the general attitude was, “there is nothing we can do,” and “it is a done deal.” Not one commissioner stated that there was something they could or should do about the offshore wind projects.
Now, 14 months later, both the Atlantic County executive and the Atlantic County Commissioners have taken no public action demonstrating that they have educated themselves, informed their public, or hired experts and legal counsel to help navigate the complexity of the offshore wind project developments.
On April 15, 2024, the same group of concerned citizens went back to the Atlantic County Commissioners’ meeting to present the results of a detailed report (each commissioner and the county executive was emailed the detailed report prior to the meeting) on the economic damages that will occur to Atlantic County as a result of the offshore wind projects. Once more these concerned citizens were rebuffed with the same rhetoric mentioned above. Some officials even questioned county jurisdictional authority regarding the offshore wind construction.
The time is now for the Atlantic County executive and the Atlantic County Commissioners to demonstrate leadership in addressing the serious issues with the wind development projects off our coast. It is time to follow Cape May County’s blueprint as referenced above. It works.
Compared to the county’s challenging economic issues of the past, the offshore wind projects will have an even greater catastrophic impact on Atlantic County economic revenues and property values. The casino industry may move away since Atlantic City will no longer offer the “coastal vibe” which is an attraction for its customers. What about tourism, fishing, the Boardwalk, the beaches, and environmental justice for the residents of Atlantic City? It is nearly impossible to imagine how the municipalities and towns will survive.
Do the Atlantic County Commissioners have a plan for how they will lead the transition from a tourism, beach, and fishing economy to one having coastline views littered with hundreds of offshore industrial wind energy utility plants?
If the county executive and the Commissioners continue to remain indifferent to these offshore wind projects, their next priority will be planning for the huge collapse in the economy and tax base, combined with exorbitant electricity rate increases.
It is time for our elected officials, the Atlantic County executive and Atlantic County Commissioners, to stand up and represent the good citizens of Atlantic County to protect them and stop this impending madness, as Cape May County has done.
Keith Moore
DefendBrigantineBeach.org
