Van Drew to host hearing as opponents get vocal
By James FitzPatrick
Contributing Writer
The state is showing no signs of slowing down its offshore wind energy plans, despite ongoing public concerns that the project is contributing to the recent deaths of marine mammals.
On March 6, the state Board of Public Utilities voted unanimously to seek a third round of offshore wind proposals. Solicitation 3 has a goal of adding between 1,200 and 4,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity to the 3,750 megawatts already awarded.
Gov. Phil Murphy has set a goal of 11,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy in New Jersey by 2040, which could power up to 3.2 million homes, and propel New Jersey to a 100 percent renewable energy economy by 2050.
Three projects: Ocean Wind 1, Ocean Wind 2, and Atlantic Shores are in development now under the terms of two previous solicitations. Work continues despite concerns that wind development activities, especially sonar mapping of the ocean floor, are contributing to the spike in marine mammal deaths off New Jersey and other East Coast states.
Since December, nine whales and 13 dolphins have washed ashore in New Jersey, dead or dying, according to data from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine. Examinations have shown evidence of ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements, but no conclusive findings pointing to underwater surveys. MMSC is still waiting on pathology reports.
“In all cases, including those animals in which evidence of vessel strike was found, the pathology results are still pending,” MMSC reported on its website Feb. 17. “This means that the final cause of death has not yet been determined for these whales.” MMC has said it could take many months for results to come in.
A coalition of 30 South Jersey mayors, citizens’ groups, the Atlantic County Board of Commissioners, and state Senate Republicans including Vince Polistina of Atlantic County have called for a 30-day moratorium on offshore wind development activity until the marine mammal puzzle can be solved.
“With the primary difference off our shores being the sonar and drilling related to offshore wind studies, it seems completely irresponsible to blindly continue the work without definitive reasons why so many whales are meeting a tragic end,” Polistina said in a Feb. 15 letter to Murphy.
The issue has energized grassroots advocacy groups such as Defend Brigantine Beach, Protect Our Coast and Save LBI. Clean Ocean Action, in a Facebook post about the solicitation, said pushing wind development at a rapid pace now is reckless when the true impacts have yet to be tested.
“Project impacts from previous solicitations are still unknown, not to mention the concern about the grim recent record whale and other mammal deaths,” the post stated.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew has called for a permanent halt to all offshore wind projects now and in the future. The 2nd District Republican said he will be introducing legislation soon to place a moratorium on all existing and future wind projects.
Rep. Chris Smith, Republican serving District 4 (Ocean and Monmouth), has introduced a bill calling for an investigation into the environmental approval process for offshore wind projects.
Van Drew and Smith have scheduled a hearing on offshore wind for 2 p.m. Thursday, March 16 at the Wildwood Convention Center, 4501 Boardwalk in Wildwood. Doors open at 1:30 p.m.
In a press release, Van Drew said the Biden administration was made aware that offshore wind development poses a threat to endangered right whales, but has not been transparent about it.
A 2022 letter to Brian Hooker, lead biologist of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) from Sean Hayes, the chief of protected species at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), warned that offshore wind could have an impact on endangered North Atlantic right whales, Van Drew said.
“This letter, which only came to light through a Freedom of Information Act request, contains critical information that this administration has failed to acknowledge, and purposely ignored in order to further their Green New Deal agenda, without debate or opposition,” Van Drew said.
Political pressure has failed to sway NOAA, which sees no evidence linking whale deaths to underwater sonar mapping and other activities by wind developers.
NOAA found “no specific links between recent large whale mortalities and currently ongoing surveys,” said Lauren Gaches, a NOAA spokeswoman during a recent media conference call.
Instead NOAA and another federal agency, the Marine Mammal Commission, cite an “unusual mortality event” or UEM dating back more than five years as a possible cause. Since January 2016, NOAA Fisheries has been monitoring a UEM for humpback whales, with 188 strandings along the entire East Coast and 27 in New Jersey.
Animal autopsies known as necropsies were conducted on about half of the whales. Of those, about 40 percent showed evidence of human interaction, either ship strikes or fishing gear entanglements, with no whale deaths attributed to offshore wind activities.
Moreover, NOAA says the humpback whale population has grown in the Mid-Atlantic, increasing the number of possible vessel interactions. Whales are also moving closer to shore in pursuit of menhaden, one of their favorite prey fish.
Other well-known organizations including the Sierra Club, are saying that it would be inappropriate to let the current concerns about humpback whales slow down clean energy initiatives. A recent Sierra Club press release, which included commentary from the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, New Jersey Audubon Society, the Surfrider Foundation, Clean Water Action and the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, said halting ocean development based on concerns about whales would be “unfounded and premature.”
“The coalition encourages more research into the potential impacts of these turbines and their construction on wildlife, but don’t believe plans for future production should be halted unless a direct correlation is uncovered and proven,” the release said.
The whale issue has not deterred the BPU and Gov. Murphy from pushing ahead with their ambitious plan to use offshore wind to propel New Jersey to a 100 percent renewable energy economy by 2050.
Murphy, who has been championing offshore wind since he took office in 2018, is satisfied that NOAA’s findings are good enough. A statement reported on NJ.com from Murphy’s office called the results of the investigations unanimous and unmistakable.
“At this time there is no evidence of specific links between recent whale mortalities and ongoing surveys for offshore wind development,” the statement said.
Although BPU commissioners addressed the topic at their March 6 hearing which approved new wind development, it was clear that the dead marine mammal mystery is not enough for the agency to change course.
“There are forces out there who don’t want us to do this, but we are going to do it,” said NJBPU President Joseph Fiordaliso.
BPU Commissioner Dianne Solomon, although she voted in favor, was the only skeptical voice heard during the BPU’s unanimous roll call vote. Solomon said she’s worried about environmental impacts and costs.
“Promises are made that somehow disappear or we learn of increases in costs, above and beyond that which we relied upon when making our initial awards,” Solomon said. “Folks are relying on us to make prudent decisions that will forever impact the cost of energy here in New Jersey, not to mention the landscape and waters of our coastline.”
She said she favors offshore wind development and its potential economic benefits, but questions whether the public is being adequately protected.
“Proceeding without due regard to the cost and effect discounts our obligation to serve ratepayers and demonstrates indifference to legitimate environmental concerns,” she said.
Concerns about costs have also been raised by the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel, a state office that advocates for ratepayers in utility matters. Attorney Brian Lipman, division director, offered his comments in a Jan. 11 letter to the BPU.
Lipman brought up “the current economic uncertainty” and how “unnecessary levels of economic and financial risks associated with the third offshore wind solicitation may be passed along to ratepayers.”
He noted that inflation is hitting everyone, not just offshore wind developers, but electricity consumers, too.
“Ratepayers simply cannot afford drastically higher electric bills, particularly if such bill increases are driven by attempts to insulate offshore wind developers from the same risks that New Jersey households and small businesses face.”
NJBPU President Fiordaliso called it “another step forward in making New Jersey the supply chain for offshore wind on the Eastern Seaboard.”
Fiordaliso said many of the arguments expressed against offshore wind are the same ones he heard when solar power first came out.
“Initially is it going to cost us more money? Yes. But the prices will continue to come down, just like they have in the solar industry.”
Fiordaliso said the BPU takes the whale deaths seriously, but it’s not convinced of a wind whale connection.
“They have done autopsies on these whales and have not come to any conclusive decision that it is caused by any activity in the ocean regarding wind turbines,” he said, pledging to work with DEP to protect marine life and commercial fishing.
Fiordaliso acknowledged that BPU is new to offshore wind, so there will be “potholes.”
“Our challenge is to ensure the fact that when we hit those potholes, our tires don’t blow out; that we continue to move.
“Offshore wind, and other types of renewables are the wave of the future, and New Jersey, I am proud to say, is leading the way.”
The deadline for bidders to respond is June 23.
Two more solicitations came before this one. Under Solicitation 1, awarded in June of 2019, Denmark-based Orsted got the greenlight for 1,100 megawatts for its 98-turbine Ocean Wind 1 project 15 miles out to sea.
Under Solicitation 2, awarded in June of 2021, the BPU granted 1,510 megawatts of offshore wind capacity to EDF/Shell’s Atlantic Shores. The two-phase development has permission to build up to 200 wind turbines as close as 8.7 miles off of Atlantic City. At the same time, Orsted’s 82-turbine 1,148 megawatt Ocean Wind 2 was okayed for a location about 15 miles out.
The BPU is scheduled to hold Solicitation 4 for 1,200 megawatts in the second quarter of 2024, and Solicitation 5 for 1,300 megawatts in the second quarter of 2026.
The offshore wind initiative has been steadily taking shape in New Jersey since 2004, when a state blue ribbon panel was commissioned to do a feasibility study by then-Gov. Richard Codey.
After an evaluation that included six public hearings, offshore wind was found to show promise. The panel recommended the development of a limited test project no larger than 350 megawatts to assess the benefits and potential impacts.
In 2010 Gov. Chris Christie signed the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act, which directed the BPU to promote offshore wind power development through a system of offshore renewable energy certificates which created a new market for offshore wind producers and buyers.
In 2011, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management published a notice to see if there was any competitive interest in commercial leasing the Outer Continental Shelf off of New Jersey for offshore wind projects and to gain more information.
The nation’s first Atlantic Ocean wind farm was opened off of Block Island, Rhode Island, in 2016. The five-turbine 30-megawatt project by Orsted is tiny when compared to what is being planned off of the New Jersey coast.
New Jersey wind development didn’t kick into high gear untilI January of 2018 when Murphy signed Executive Order No. 8, requiring the BPU to solicit 1,100 megawatts of offshore power capacity as a first step in meeting a goal of 3,500 megawatts by 2030.
In November of 2019, Murphy signed Executive Order No. 92, raising New Jersey’s offshore wind goal from 3,500 megawatts by 2030 to 7,500 megawatts by 2035. The action increased the state’s renewable energy goal to 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, and a 100 percent clean energy economy by 2050,
In September of 2022 Murphy signed Executive Order No. 307, increasing New Jersey’s offshore wind goal to 11,000 megawatts by 2040.
Copyeditor and Contributing Writer James FitzPatrick has been a community journalist in Atlantic and Cape May counties for more than 30 years, including 20 years as editor of The Current Newspapers. He lives in Hammonton.
