Sea Girt Residents Fight Plans To Bring Wind Energy Ashore In Town

SEA GIRT, NJ — So far, plans have collapsed for two big wind farms that were proposed to be built off the Jersey Shore: Danish wind developer Orsted pulled out last October and in January, Equinor and British Petroleum (BP) terminated plans for Empire Wind 2, which would have taken up 80,000 acres of ocean from Sandy Hook down to Long Branch, 19 miles out.

Both companies cited "inflation, interest rates and supply chain disruptions" as reasons for canceling the project. Equinor also said there are "changed economic circumstances on an industry-wide scale (in the offshore wind industry)."

But another wind farm is still moving full-steam ahead: Atlantic Shores South, 8.7 miles off Atlantic City.

Atlantic Shores South will consist of 195 total turbines, each over 900 feet tall. (Almost the height of the Empire State Building.) If all goes as planned, the wind farm is expected to generate up to 2,800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power close to one million homes.

And the transmission cables carrying energy from Atlantic Shores will make landfall in Monmouth County:

If they get built, the transmission lines will make first landfall in Sea Girt, and underground cables will continue north through Manasquan, Wall and Howell, where they will connect to the power grid.

On Monday night, more than 500 people tuned into a virtual community meeting that was largely against the transmission cables. The meeting was organized by Stop the High-Risk Power Cables, a group of Monmouth County residents.

"The transmission cables that will be buried beneath community streets will carry 6,400 megawatts of power — 10 times the electrical output of the recently closed Oyster Creek nuclear plant," wrote the group here on their website. "Based on our research, no project of this magnitude has been tested and proven safe anywhere in the world."

The high-voltage electric cables will run within 10-15 yards of homes and recreational facilities, by three schools and underneath the Coast to Capital Bike Trail, the residents say.

The group says not enough people in Monmouth County know this is being proposed. Monday night's meeting was originally planned to be in person, but the group said they had to move it online due to the crowd size.

Monday night's meeting was attended by Congressman, Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester), who has been vocal in trying to stop wind farms off the Jersey Shore. The meeting was also attended by Manasquan Mayor Michael Mangan, Sea Girt Mayor Donald Fetzer, Monmouth/Ocean county Assemblyman Paul Kanitra, Mike Dean from Save the East Coast, Cindy Zipf from Clean Ocean Action and Keith Moore from Defend Brigantine Beach.

“We know that without a change in plans, the communities of Sea Girt, Wall, Howell and Manasquan — who are being forced to host the huge cables coming off the wind turbines — will be the next victims,” said Smith. “The work needed on these projects — which could last for years and will inevitably require ongoing maintenance — will indefinitely turn neighborhoods into hazardous construction zones."

“We can’t find an example anywhere in the world where this much power is landing on a beach and running within 15-20 yards of homes, schools and recreation areas,” said Kimberly Paterson, one of the founding members of StopTheHighRiskPowerCables.org. “Residents should not be expected to be guinea pigs in New Jersey’s high-risk experiment.”

Construction of the onshore infrastructure in Monmouth County is scheduled to begin in 2025, and a contractor is expected to chosen this September.

Not a single wind turbine has been built yet off the Jersey Shore, but companies have started the sonar testing to test where to install the turbines.

BP Terminates Empire Wind 2 Farm; 2nd Jersey Shore Wind Farm Axed (Jan. 4, 2024)

2 Offshore Wind Farms Canceled In New Jersey, Developer Says (Oct. 31, 2023)