For Immediate Release
May 17, 2012 Contact Jeff Tittel, 609-558-9100
A Google of Problems with Off-Shore Transmission Line Today the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that they will be moving forward with an environmental analysis for a proposed Mid-Atlantic offshore energy transmission line financed in part by Google.The agency found there was "no competitive interest" for the line that would run from Virginia to New York, off New Jersey's coast.*Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club*, issued the following statement in response:
"We find the Obama administration's plan to move ahead with environmental reviews for the Google off-shore transmission line troubling as we have some serious concerns with the project.Currently the line is being proposed to connect offshore wind turbines to the energy grid, but unless the wind projects are built, this project will be used to bring dirty coal power from Virginia up to New Jersey, increasing our dependence on fossil fuels.If you build the line before the wind mills are bought off shore the line will be used to bring coal power up from Virginia.There is no way to keep coal from coming up the line from Virginia even if the wind turbines are built off our coast."
"If the wind projects are constructed off our coast, we are concerned the transmission line could carry the electricity to New York City, where the energy companies will earn more money.New Jersey ratepayers could be paying for these projects without getting the clean energy they produce.New Jersey would be paying for these projects without getting the clean energy they paid for.We would also lose support from our Governor and elected officials if they saw the power paid for by New Jersey citizens going out of state."
"The power produced should be going to Atlantic City and shore communities where the cost of transmission will be significantly cheaper instead of building this long power line."
"The cost of this transmission line will be significant, almost $5 billion line and the investors are guaranteed to make a 10 percent profit.This money would be better spent building the windmills off our coast first."
"New Jersey and states up and down the coast have been delay off shore wind.The energy tax credits have dried up.Instead of focusing on the line, BOEM should be working to make wind off our coast a reality by streamlining regulations for offshore wind."
"Earlier this year the Obama administration announced they would be conducting seismic testing off the coast of the Mid-Atlantic potentially leading to offshore drilling.Now this announcement raises serious concerns about the impacts fossil fuels will be having on our ocean."
-- Kate Millsaps Program Assistant NJ Chapter of the Sierra Club 609-656-7612