Controversial Offshore Wind Transmission Line Approved In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The state Board of Public Utilities has approved a controversial transmission line for the upcoming Ocean Wind 1 project.

Cape May County officials had long refused to grant necessary easements and permits for the project to Orsted, the Danish wind company behind Ocean Wind 1.

This transmission line would make landfall onshore at 35th Street, heading west to Bay Avenue and then north to Roosevelt Boulevard, crossing Peck's Bay at the bridge and continuing onto Route 9 to the proposed substation near BL England.

Officials have argued that this would be harmful to the environmentally sensitive lands and asked for an alternative, called the Great Egg Harbor route, to be instead considered.

But the BPU used an amendment to New Jersey's offshore wind law removing most local control over where offshore wind projects come ashore to approve the line, according to the Associated Press. This law allows offshore wind developers to apply to the BPU to supersede local control over 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, the Associated Press reported. “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.”

He said that the line would not harm Ocean City or Cape May County aesthetically or economically, according to the Associated Press.

The board previously used this law in Sept. 2022 for the project regarding environmental approvals. Read more: Impact Needs Study For Offshore Wind Project, Ocean City Says

The fight against offshore wind has been ongoing between Ocean City and Cape May County officials. Read more: Reject Offshore Wind Transmission Line, Ocean City Asks BPU

Commissioner Dianne Solomon voted against the measure, according to the Associated Press, calling it “clearly a contentious matter,” and said that the BPU made a mistake in overriding Ocean City's authority back in September.

Numerous state and federal approvals are still needed for the Ocean Wind 1 project, according to the Associated Press.

The decision comes on the heel of a number of whale deaths in the New Jersey and New York area that some have attributed to offshore wind development activity.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2) announced that he would be holding a public hearing on offshore wind in South Jersey with corresponding legislation demanding a moratorium on offshore wind development. Read more: Van Drew To Hold Offshore Wind Hearing In South Jersey

But others have called the blaming of offshore wind to be irresponsible, as no evidence exists linking it to the deaths.

“We’re glad that the misinformation spread by fossil fuel companies is not impeding our essential transition to 100% clean energy, and we support the BPU’s decision to allow a transmission line to be responsibly constructed in Cape May County to bring clean renewable offshore wind electricity to homes and businesses,” Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters said in a statement.

Since 2016, 25 deceased whales have washed up in New Jersey, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data, which pre-dates offshore wind activity in the area.

"At this point, there is no evidence to support speculation that noise resulting from wind development-related site characterization surveys could potentially cause mortality of whales," NOAA officials said.

Read more:
Calls To Halt Offshore Wind Continue In Atlantic, Cape May Counties
Dead Female Whale Removed From Manasquan Beach, Necropsy Is Next
Is Offshore Wind To Blame For NJ Whale Deaths? Officials Investigating