The Biden Administration formally signed off on “Ocean Wind 1” on Wednesday, a 98-turbine offshore wind farm that will destroy coastal vistas, kill whales and dolphins, and boost ratepayer’s bills. Uncoincidentally, word of final approval arrived mere days after the New Jersey legislature passed a multi-billion dollar bailout package for the foreign-owned developer, Ørsted.
“For Ocean Wind I, I estimate that a typical residential customer will pay an additional $26 per year. Of course, if Ørsted succeeds in renegotiating its existing contract, which will force New Jerseyans to pay $98 per megawatt-hour the first year Ocean Wind I generates electricity – rising to $148 per MWh in the contract’s final year – a typical residential customer will pay even more for the privilege of seeing dead whales and dolphins washing up on New Jersey beaches,” explained Dr. Jonathan Lesser of the Manhattan Institute in an op-ed published by Save Jersey. “Plus, customers will pay for all of the backup electricity needed for the majority of hours in the year when the wind doesn’t blow.”
Ocean Wind’s precise location will be 13 nautical miles (or 24 kilometers) southeast of Atlantic City within full view of the coast’s iconic beach resorts; the turbines’ power cables will run through Ocean County to the north and Cape May County in the deep south.
Trenton’s bailout package passed in a party-line vote with no Republican support.
“Our ‘leaders’ in Trenton are fast tracking a bailout for a foreign corporation and kicking rate payers in the shins, all under the guise of ‘clean’ energy and climate change,” said State Senator Mike Testa Jr. (R-1) whose district takes in all of Cape May County. “What’s happening in the State of New Jersey is a disgrace and I’m going to do everything in my power to put a stop to it.”
“While Democrats think Ocean Wind 1 Project will benefit New Jersey, whales and dolphins potentially fall victim to this. If the Democrat-controlled Legislature in Trenton cared about protecting the environment, they would denounce the Biden administration for authorizing this offshore wind project immediately,” said Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) Spokesperson Stephanie Rivera.
Ocean Wind 1 is the third such project to receive approval nation-wide but a growing number of elected leaders – including some Democrats like the governor of Oregon – have called for at least a pause while the impacts of the development of these skyscraper-sized wind turbines are studied.
