July 6, 2023 — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill Thursday giving a tax break to Danish offshore wind developer Orsted for the first of two energy projects it plans in the waters off New Jersey.
The governor, a Democrat, said the financial aid ensures that offshore wind projects and the jobs they create happen in New Jersey rather than in competing states.
Before the ink was dry on that bill, he faced pressure from another offshore wind company looking for similar assistance.
The bill allows Orsted to keep federal tax credits that it otherwise would have been required to pass along to New Jersey utility ratepayers. Lawmakers who narrowly approved the bill last week said the aid was needed to help Orsted deal with inflation and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If we don’t figure out a solution, this doesn’t get done in New Jersey,” Murphy said after the ceremony at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal, where the huge supporting structures for wind turbines, called monopiles, are manufactured. “We know war in Europe, inflation, supply chain — these projects have gotten a lot more expensive, and we’re not the only place that’s dealing with that. Either we get this bill done and the industry thrives here, and the jobs that are associated with it, or it goes somewhere else.”