January 31, 2024 — One of the more vocal opponents of the state’s offshore wind program is praising last week’s decision to build two wind farms because, at more than 40 miles off the Jersey coast, they will be out of sight.
“We think it is a step in the right direction,’’ said Bob Stern, president of Save Long Beach Island, a group that had gone to court to block the initial offshore wind projects nearer to the coast, referring to the two new projects approved by the state Board of Public Utilities.
Leading Light Wind and Attentive Energy got the go-ahead to build a total of 3,742 megawatts of offshore wind capacity, enough to power 1.8 million homes when the wind turbines become operational in 2030 or 2031.