Company: Resort was blocking wind farm from moving project forward
Related Stories:
Timeline: Ørsted has worked on rights of way for two years
Hearing is March 7 on Ørsted’s request for Ocean City land
OCEAN CITY – Last week, Ocean Wind, a joint venture of Ørsted and PSEG, formally petitioned the state Board of Public Utilities to grant permission to use rights of way through Ocean City to run its power transmission lines to connect to the power grid in Upper Township.
Ocean Wind 1 is a proposed wind turbine farm 15 miles off the coast aiming to be operational in 2024. Ocean City Council members have vocally opposed Ocean Wind 1 and would not put forward a resolution allowing access to the rights of way. In mid-2021, the Legislature approved a new law that took that power away from municipalities and gave it to the BPU, leading to an outcry on council that it was losing “home rule.”
Mayor Jay Gillian, asked last week for comment, referred the question to city solicitor Dorothy McCrosson. “The administration and City Council will meet in executive session Feb. 10 to discuss the petition filed by Ocean Wind,” she wrote. “Until then, the mayor cannot comment further.”
The company, which proposes up to 99 wind turbines off the coast of Cape May and Atlantic counties, officially petitioned the BPU Feb. 2 for approval and in accompanying testimony argues it tried multiple times since 2020 to get permission from Ocean City but was rebuffed each time.
The Ocean Wind 1 project has generated substantial vocal public opposition from Ocean City Council – and many members of the public – since December 2020, after Ocean Wind had asked repeatedly for a resolution allowing the company to use the beach at 35th Street and city streets to run its power lines under the ground on the way to the former B.L. England generating station in Beesleys Point.
The petition itself, a 20-page document filed by Gregory Eisenstark of Cozen O’Connor, PC, attorneys for Ocean Wind, LLC, said the BPU should have jurisdiction over the matter, that its request is reasonable and necessary for the construction and operation of the project, and that it can supersede or preempt any need for municipal approvals.
Madeline Urbish, head of government affairs and policy for Ørsted in New Jersey, outlined in her Feb. 2 testimony to the BPU that accompanied the petition how the city has stymied Ocean Wind’s efforts and is not going to help.
“After all the discussions, meetings, and letters exchanged by Ocean Wind and Ocean City from August of 2019 through the present, it has become apparent that the city will not voluntarily provide Ocean Wind with any of the necessary approvals or consents for environmental permitting or grant the necessary easements over the Green Acres-restricted properties,” Urbish wrote. “Due to the lack of cooperation from the city, Ocean Wind has determined that it must seek recourse with the board as authorized by New Jersey law, in order to ensure that the project deadlines are met.”
She added that Ocean Wind remains willing to meet with city officials but had to approach the BPU to ensure it could meet its deadlines to construct and operate the wind turbine farm, which will provide 1,100 megawatts of power for New Jersey, enough for half a million homes.
In June, Ørsted was given approval to develop Ocean Wind 2 on the same plot in the ocean that would double power provided to the state.
Ocean Wind went the BPU route under a new law enacted by the Legislature in June 2021 that took away a municipality’s ability to govern its own rights of way on projects such as wind farms. The law was rushed through the Legislature and signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, a proponent of clean wind energy, after it became apparent Ocean City might prove a problem with the transmission lines. Leading the charge in the Legislature were proponents of wind power who were already breaking ground on a facility to build the monopiles – the mammoth structures that are some 853-feet tall and hold the turbines.
Ørsted had tried since early 2020 to get Ocean City Council to approve an ordinance granting the company permission to run the transmission lines through the island.
Urbish’s testimony is part of a 252-page document submitted to the BPU.
Asked for comment about the filing with the BPU, Urbish responded with the following statement:
“Ocean Wind has partnered with New Jersey to help achieve its clean energy goals, specifically for offshore wind energy. This project supports the state’s environmental and economic development strategies, bringing thousands of direct and indirect jobs to New Jersey as they help usher in a new industry,” Urbish wrote.
“Ocean Wind has been working with elected officials to advance the project and is committed to continuing our collaboration with all involved. This petition filing seeks to maintain the project’s timeline to meet critical permitting milestones and assure that construction and operations can commence on time, so we can ensure the commitments we made to New Jersey are realized.
“The petition process was recently put in place by the state to help New Jersey meet its clean energy targets. We continue to engage with local officials as this petition advances and aim to negotiate agreements with local communities that facilitate the development of offshore wind and benefit all New Jerseyans,” she added.
Members of Ocean City Council have been extremely vocal in their opposition to the wind farm off the coast, saying they fear it will harm the resort’s tourism economy and real estate values because the turbines will be visible from the island. Other objections have been raised with concerns over the impact to commercial fishing and sea life.
A grassroots citizens group, with the website protectourcoastnj.com, has formed to fight the project. Ørsted has its own website about the project, oceanwind.com.
There are also supporters of the wind farm in and around Ocean City who have been conducting a petition drive – as viewed in recent weeks in letters to the editor in the Sentinel, to get Mayor Jay Gillian and Ocean City Council to support the wind turbine project. The company points to polling which shows the majority of New Jersey residents support wind energy projects.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff