Our Chapter’s Offshore Wind Committee was active this fall in advocacy for and education about the benefits of offshore wind for New Jersey. Committee members have attended webinars, public hearings, rallies, and community fairs.
Advocacy
The Offshore Wind Committee participated in two tabling events. The first was on August 31 (Labor Day weekend) in Asbury Park for the Friends of Clearwater Festival. Howard Stein, Kip Cherry, and Denise Brush represented the committee. The kids enjoyed our tabletop turbine model.
On Saturday, October 6, Howard, Kip, and Denise had a table promoting offshore wind at the First Annual Pitman Green Fair, in Gloucester County. We were able to acquaint some local environmentalists with the Sierra Club and offshore wind development.
Education
On September 18, we watched a very informative NJ Wind Works webinar titled “Offshore Wind Transmission and the Grid.” On September 24, Denise attended a presentation by Paulina O’Connor, executive director of the NJ Offshore Wind Alliance at the monthly meeting of TriCounty Sustainability (for Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties).
On September 26, Howard and Denise attended a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) open house in Atlantic City. We submitted testimony; chatted with federal government experts on fisheries, wind power, and computer modeling; and collected many information-packed handouts for future tabling.
Hearings and Rallies
On the evening of October 1, Howard, Alejandro Meseguer, and Dennis Colligan represented the Sierra Club at a small rally in Wall Township organized by Chapter Communications and Outreach Coordinator Jackie Greger. The rally, at which offshore wind supporters outnumbered opponents, was held outside the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 400 hall, where a Board of Public Utilities (BPU) hearing on pre-build infrastructure for offshore wind transmission was occurring.
The hearing concerned transmission infrastructure for the Leading Light Wind and Attentive Energy offshore wind projects, which will connect to shore at the Sea Girt National Guard Training Center in Monmouth County. From there the electricity will be conveyed to the Larrabee power substation in Howell. The hearing included presentations by BPU staff and an expert on electromagnetic fields (EMF). He assured us that EMF from the offshore wind cables would be just half of 1% of the safety maximum recommended by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. Denise gave comments virtually, and Steve Miller from the Jersey Shore Group also testified.
On November 5, Denise planned to give a presentation to the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club. We hope our neighbors across the Delaware River will become allies advocating with us for offshore wind.
Development Progress
In early October, we received the good news that Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind had received approval for their construction and operations plan from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Atlantic Shores Projects 1 and 2 together will generate enough renewable energy to serve more than 1 million New Jersey homes. The two Atlantic Shores projects will connect to the grid at Atlantic City.
On October 21, it was announced that BOEM has completed an environmental review to assess potential wind development activities within six wind lease areas covering over 488,000 acres in the New York Bight, which includes the New Jersey and New York coastal area. BOEM estimates that full development of the lease areas could generate up to 7 gigawatts of offshore wind energy.