OCEAN CITY – As Mayor Jay Gillian was reminding residents about Ocean Wind’s open house Nov. 6, he laid out his position on the proposed wind turbine farm planned for 15 miles off the coast of Cape May and Atlantic counties.
First of all, he wrote in his weekly address to residents and visitors Friday, the wind turbines should not be visible from shore.
“I have listened to an overwhelming number of citizens who have expressed concerns about the project and I have done my own due diligence. There is no way it can be constructed without making a direct impact on Ocean City,” Gillian wrote.
Danish company Ørsted has two wind farms in the works, Ocean Wind 1, with up to 99 853-foot-tall turbines, and Ocean Wind 2, full details of which have not been released. The company plans to connect the wind energy farm to the power grid at the former B.L. England generating plant in Beesleys Point, Upper Township, and run those transmission cables through rights-of-way in Ocean City.
Gillian wrote that the wind farm should be moved so that it is not visible from shore. “This project can be altered by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to eliminate visual impact from the beach,” he wrote.
Whether the turbines can be easily seen from shore is hotly contested, with Ocean Wind officials saying they’ll be barely visible on the horizon and local opponents claiming seeing them in the daytime and with their lights at night will harm Ocean City’s tourism economy and real estate market.
The mayor laid out three other points in his letter:
– The project should not move forward until all concerns of the fishing communities are adequately addressed.
– The project should not move forward until any potential threats to the environment and the public are addressed.
– Ocean Wind should provide Ocean City with an annual impact fee and fund a flood mitigation project in the area where transmission lines would cross under the island.
Gillian said he understands the decision about the final approval of Ocean Wind 1 is in the hands of state and federal officials and can move forward with the project without the city’s consent, “but I intend to do everything in my power to advocate for Ocean City’s best interested.
“Let me be clear,” he continued. “I do not intend to be an obstructionist, but it’s my job to look out for Ocean City.”
The mayor encouraged local residents to attend the meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Ocean City Music Pier, where Ocean Wind officials will have a short presentation and answer questions from the public.
Ocean Wind 1, if approved and constructed and generating power by 2024, would provide 1,100 megawatts of energy, enough, the company says, to power 500,000 homes. It is a 75/25 joint venture of Ørsted and and PSEG.
For more information on the project, go to oceanwind.com, the company’s website.
Opponents of the project have their own website. It is protectourcoastnj.com.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
