Saving Seafood

Offshore wind foes ask Trump’s Interior secretary to halt all projects

February 21, 2025 — Dozens of offshore wind opponents are lobbying the new Interior secretary to revoke authorizations for the energy projects and order an immediate stop to construction, including at Vineyard Wind, citing concerns over whales and other marine species.

President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 order on offshore wind has already had a chilling effect on the industry. It halted leasing and permitting, and ordered Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to not only review all projects and permits, but also consider terminating leases and rescinding approvals.

This Feb. 11 request from the groups, submitted in a letter, is seeking to fast-track possible actions by the Interior Department before it completes its project-wide review.

The status of that review is unclear. The Interior Department did not provide a comment on the letter, or answer questions from The Light about the secretary’s review of permitted offshore wind projects, what it entails, and when it might be completed.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

NEW YORK: New York approves power line for Equinor offshore wind farm

February 14, 2025 — New York’s utility regulator on Thursday granted a unit of Norwegian energy firm Equinor permission to build and operate transmission facilities for the company’s Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm under construction off the state coast.

The transmission line for the project runs about 17.5 miles (28.2 kilometers) from the boundary of New York State waters to a point of interconnection in Brooklyn, the New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC) said in a release.

Read the full article at Reuters

Focus: Trump hostility to US offshore wind reverberates through supply chain

February 13, 2025 — Companies that committed to investments in U.S. offshore wind infrastructure and supply chains are scrapping their plans as the projects they were meant to serve face huge setbacks, including President Donald Trump’s plan to end federal support.

The pullback reflects the trickle-down effect of a dramatic downturn in the U.S. offshore wind industry over the past two years that has caused lengthy delays, cost increases and even failures of many of the nation’s proposed offshore wind farm projects. It could cost thousands of planned jobs and billions of dollars in investments.

Read the full article at Reuters

Whales recorded in large numbers off New Jersey coast

February 6, 2025 — Whales are gathering in large numbers off New Jersey in a portion of the Atlantic Ocean called the New York Bight, according to several sources.

Viking Yacht Company of New Gretna, Burlington County, posted to Facebook that a large group of North Atlantic right whales, an endangered species with only about 360 individuals left, was congregating in the New York Bight between the Hudson Canyon off Sandy Hook and Block Canyon off Montauk, New York.

The New York Bight is a triangular area of ocean that stretches between the Jersey Shore and Long Island.

“NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has used planes to identify the whales — present due to large amounts of food,” Viking Yacht staff wrote on Facebook. “We’re advising boaters to be vigilant. If whale(s) are seen, provide a wide berth.”

Read the full article at the Asbury Park Press

VIRGINIA: Halftime at the General Assembly: Here’s the environmental legislation that made it through so far

February 6, 2025 — Proposals approved so far touch on topics including “virtual power plants,” data centers and environmental justice.

Virginia lawmakers are quickly moving through this year’s General Assembly session.

Tuesday marked “crossover” day, meaning all bills that made it through the House of Delegates are now sent to the Senate, and vice versa.

Dozens of proposed bills impact the future of the Commonwealth’s climate, environment and energy policy. Here’s a (non-exhaustive) look at where they stand.

Read the full article at WHRO

Trump Didn’t Kill New Jersey’s Wind Farms. Economics Did

February 6, 2025 — Donald Trump’s supporters and opponents alike are giving the president credit for “killing” an offshore wind farm project along the coast of New Jersey.

An executive order pausing permitting for offshore wind projects cast doubt on that project’s viability, New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities indicated in a statement this week. It is indisputable that creating uncertainty in this market threw a wrench in the works. But as Politico confessed, the “challenges” that Governor Phil Murphy’s project encountered “include economic conditions beyond Murphy’s control and Trump.”

Read the full article at National Review

VIRGINIA: Dominion says cost of Virginia Beach wind farm is up and customers will pay more

February 5, 2025 — The utility said the increase of nearly $1 billion is tied to higher costs of required upgrades to the electric grid and onshore electrical infrastructure.

The cost of building the nation’s largest offshore wind farm off the Virginia Beach coast has jumped by nearly 10% since the original budget, Dominion Energy announced this week.

The utility now plans to spend $10.7 billion on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, up from $9.8 billion in 2021.

Dominion said in a news release the increase is tied to higher costs from building electrical interconnection onshore, as well as network upgrades assigned by the regional electric grid operator.

That operator, PJM Interconnection, coordinates the movement of electricity in 13 states, including Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

“New electric generation resources constructed within PJM, like CVOW, are assigned costs by PJM that are deemed necessary to effectively integrate these resources and ensure the reliability and stability of the electric grid,” Dominion said in this week’s statement.

Read the full article at WHRO

NEW JERSEY: NJ’s 4th offshore wind solicitation awards no bids (updated)

February 5, 2025 — In the latest sign of industry headwinds, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) announced Feb. 3 it was not making any awards in the state’s fourth offshore wind solicitation.

“The Board will not proceed with an award in New Jersey’s fourth offshore wind solicitation,” said NJBPU President Christine Guhl-Sadovy. “There were three initial bids in the fourth solicitation. However, two bidders withdrew and only Atlantic Shores submitted a best and final offer.”

As NJBIZ reported in July, Atlantic Shores rebid Project 1 – which already has Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificates (OREC) – bundled with Project 2. The effort has been slated as New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm. Officials said that the proposal aimed at providing a more resilient, competitive and sustainable path through the advanced permitting program.

Read the full article at NJ Biz

VIRGINIA: Cost of Virginia Beach wind farm jumps almost $1 billion, with increase passed onto customers

February 4, 2025 — The estimated cost of Dominion Energy’s 2.6-gigawatt Virginia Beach offshore wind farm has increased about 9%, which will mean a 43-cent increase on an average monthly residential power bill.

In a Monday announcement, Dominion said the total cost estimate of its wind farm had increased from $9.8 billion to $10.7 billion. The cost increase is due to higher network upgrade costs assigned by PJM, the regional electric grid operator, as well as higher onshore electrical interconnection costs, according to the statement.

“Higher network upgrade cost estimates by PJM reflect the significant increase in demand growth that require incremental generation and transmission resources across the system,” Dominion said in the statement.

Read the full article at The Virginian-Pilot

NEW JERSEY: Another blow to NJ’s offshore wind industry

February 3, 2025 — Oil giant Shell announced Thursday it’s pausing its involvement in what is set to be the state’s first offshore wind farm, Atlantic Shores.

“Hopefully the project is dead and gone, as almost all unsightly and environmentally unsound Windmill project should be,” President Donald Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“First Ørsted pulled out of these projects, and now Shell is following suit,” said U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd). “They are beginning to realize what we have been saying all along: these projects are not a practical or viable solution for our energy needs. The promises made by the offshore wind industry were always too good to be true…”

Read the full article at the NJ Spotlight News