Murphy’s Law Works for Atlantic City OWF

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy opened a new window of opportunity for the Atlantic City offshore wind farm to be built by signing the S1217 bill into law on 30 May, after two similar bills introduced in 2016 did not pass at the former Governor Chris Christie’s desk.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) is required to accept and review an amended application for the project that reached an impasse as the BPU had rejected the original application twice due to, according to the BPU, the project being financially non-viable for the state and ratepayers.

Under the new legislation, introduced on 25 January 2018 and passed by the Senate on 12 April, the BPU now has 30 days to provide a 90-day period for the submission of an amended application for the project.

The BPU is authorised to approve the project under the law that was already in place (section 4 of P.L.2010, c.57), which the new act amends to open room for the review of an amended application and limits BPU to only addressing any modifications that may be needed to meet any concerns previously expressed or considered by the BPU “specifically concerning the issues of turbine selection and substantiation of financial viability.”

The new act, sponsored by Senate President Steve Sweeney and Bob Smith, Senator and the chairman of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee, also mandates the BPU to occasionally open a submission period that may differ from the 90-day application timeframe, after the conclusion of the required 90-day period. 

The total number of wind turbines that Atlantic City Wind Farm is allowed to have is limited to six under the new legislation.

“I was proud to sponsor the wind energy bill signed into law today. Wind energy offers the opportunity to create jobs in a growing sector of the economy at the same time we generate clean energy that helps protect the environment,” New Jersey’s Senate President Steve Sweeney said on Twitter on 30 May.

Third Time’s the Charm

As already mentioned, the offshore wind project has so far faced dismissal from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities two times and witnessed two bills working in its favour being vetoed by the state’s former governor after being passed by the Senate.

The state’s BPU first rejected Atlantic City Wind Farm in March 2014, leading Fishermen’s Energy – the developer of the project – to filing an appeal to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey, which then ordered the BPU to reconsider its decision.

However, the BPU withheld its initial decision and dismissed the project application for the second time in November 2014.

Fishermen’s Energy announced in October 2015 that it had modified its project proposal, saying it would use traditional sources of project financing and Siemens Gamesa 4MW turbines as a proven wind energy technology to meet the concerns voiced by the BPU.

In January of the following year, the then governor Chis Christie declined to sign a bill (S2711) that would have moved the 24MW project forward and decided to do the same in May 2016 with the second bill introduced for the same purpose (S988).