NJ Cancels Latest Round Of Offshore Wind Farm Leasing, Citing Trump

JERSEY SHORE, NJ — On Monday, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities canceled what would have been the fourth round of bidding for huge swaths of the Atlantic Ocean to be leased by offshore wind farms.

The BPU's decision to cancel was abrupt; as early as Sunday the Board appeared to still be moving ahead with the auction.

Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday it was the right decision.

"The offshore wind industry is currently facing significant challenges, and now is the time for patience and prudence," said Murphy, currently in his last term at the helm of New Jersey. "I support the BPU’s decision ... I hope the Trump administration will partner with New Jersey to lower costs for consumers, promote energy security and create good-paying construction and manufacturing jobs.”

In the past two weeks, Jersey Shore wind farms suffered significant blows. One of the many executive orders Trump signed on his first day in office put an immediate halt to all wind farm development in the United States.

Trump's order means no ocean water can be leased for offshore wind farms, local and state governments cannot approve permits, and banks cannot give loans to fund wind farm construction.

Then, 11 days later, oil company giant Shell pulled out of the Atlantic Shores wind farm, taking a nearly $1 billion loss in money they had already invested in the project, and any future returns.

"Hopefully the project is dead and gone, as almost all unsightly and environmentally unsound Windmill project should be," Trump said of Atlantic Shores, a week before Shell pulled out.

On Monday, New Jersey BPU president Christine Guhl-Sadovy said Shell's decision to back out — and Trump's executive order — were major factors in her agency's decision to halt the fourth round of leasing.

"A number of reasons led to this decision, notably Shell backing out as an equity partner in the Atlantic Shores project and backing away from the American clean energy market, as well as uncertainty driven by federal actions and permitting," she said. "The Board concluded that an award in New Jersey's fourth offshore wind solicitation ... would not be a responsible decision at this time."

As governor, Murphy appoints both the director and commissioners of the BPU, which is the powerful state agency that oversees gas and electric rates for New Jersey homeowners, as well as water utilities, cell phone service and cable TV.

Murphy's apparent acquiescence to Trump was immediately met with criticism from environmental groups, who urged Murphy to fight Trump's executive order.

"We are deeply disappointed in the decision by Governor Murphy and his administration to cancel the fourth round of offshore wind solicitation because it plays right into the hands of Donald Trump," Ed Potosnak, director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. "At this critical moment in our nation’s history, New Jersey needs a governor who will boldly chart a course forward to build a clean energy future."

Atlantic Shores was supposed to be 197 wind turbines 8.7 miles off Barnegat Light, and stretch to Atlantic City. Atlantic Shores was a joint partnership between the renewable energy division of Shell Oil and EDF Renewables North America.

While a spokeswoman for Atlantic Shores said it "intends to continue progressing," it's now the third wind farm off New Jersey to suffer a major setback.

Danish renewable energy company Orsted killed Ocean Wind 1 and 2 in October 2023. And then last January, British Petroleum said it was backing out of Empire Wind 2, a wind farm that would have taken up 800,000 acres of ocean from Sandy Hook to Long Branch. That wind farm would have been 19 miles out and was meant to provide electricity to New York state, not New Jersey.

The pause will be in place for at least the next six months so Trump's secretary of the Interior, former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, can review how wind farm leases and permits were issued under the Biden administration.

In the past two weeks: Shell Withdraws From Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project (Jan. 30)

Trump Puts Pause On Wind Farms, Wants Oil/Gas Drilling Off NJ Instead (Jan. 24)

NJ Offshore Wind Farm 'Hopefully Dead And Gone,' Trump Says (Jan. 23)

BP Terminates Empire Wind 2 Farm; 2nd Jersey Shore Wind Farm Axed (January 2024)